Predictable, unrealistic, main female character counts steps, but JabbaWockeez, Moose, and Mari Koda save the film!

Rating: 3/10 (20 July 2008)

I love hip hop--the music, the breaking (along with other forms of dancing), and the culture, but I have yet to see a hip hop movie that I really loved. The reason why these movies always fail ("Honey," "Save the Last Dance," "You Got Served," "Step Up,") are because the movies either fail in acting skills or level of dance. I enjoyed "Step Up" solely because of Channing Tatum's excellent dance skills, but the girl in that movie looked like she was counting every single hip hop step. In "How She Move," the issue was that the music directors kept playing music during the stepping scenes and stepping is supposed to be so powerful that you just listen to the body music, also an issue in parts of "Stomp the Yard" (although I loved the latter film). I was not at all surprised when I wasn't moved by this film. The lead female character, like so many others, looked like she learned hip hop dancing yesterday right after her model shoot. I'm not saying this to be facetious, but the problem with Hollywood movies is they pick what they think people will find attractive rather than skill level. I watched Briana Evigan dance, and almost every move was followed by some video girl pose or hard concentration on her face. Miss Prissy (of "Rize") is a good example of how a female whose background is in hip hop usually looks when she dances. The grit in the female dancers is ALWAYS missing in these movies, but it's replaced by pop star poses. I hate that! If we get past her character, which could have been left out altogether and focused moreso on Chase Collins (played by Robert Hoffman), this movie might've worked. I have seen him on "Wild n' Out," and I think he has phenomenal skill. His acting skills are cool too, but I also wasn't buying Evigan's acting. The first half of the movie, especially with the 410 Crew, sounded like they were reading straight from the script. No emotion; just words. That made me think of "You Got Served" again, which had to be the worst acting I've ever seen. "Breakin' and "Breakin' 2" also had bad acting, but the dancing was so tight that I didn't even care.
This movie also had more clichés than a little bit: 1) a guy and a girl sitting in a tree kissing (Are you serious? And who climbs trees with a dress on?); 2) a guy and a girl kissing in the rain; 3) the entire crowd in the final scene going out through what looked like a storm and not one person put up an umbrella (Sistas are NOT trying to get their hair wet; ask one sista you know right now to go stand outside in the rain and see how she looks at you); 4) no reason whatsoever that Moose should've been a nerd nor was that character developed enough; 5) Andie's crew went to the club to show off their new moves but they acted like they were new to the neighborhood, which doesn't make any sense considering Andie used to be in 410 Crew and Chase frequented this area and danced in the very beginning of the movie (How do you make someone look inexperienced who has experience from years of practicing?) Pros: The el train scene at the beginning of the movie kicked this movie into high gear, and I was immediately entertained. I loved the dude (Alfred "Black" Thomas) who plays Tuck, although I wish he'd take that scowl off his face every once in awhile. I checked him out in "Stomp the Yard," but I got to really admire his dancing in this film. I always enjoy watching Channing Tatum because he dances so tight and puts a little stank in his moves, almost like he's also influenced by traditional African dancing with the popping. Robert Hoffman was ridiculous as usual, and I'd like to see a dance off between him and Channing. I wish Mari Koda played the female lead because she killed her role in this movie. It's about time that movies started incorporating the Asian influence in hip hop; I know Japanese people who live and breathe it harder than the average person in the club. Everything about her dancing was polished. However, the person who really caught my attention was Moose (Adam G. Sevani). That cat was SICK! If I saw him walking down the street, I wouldn't peg him as a hip hop head, but everything about his moves told me he's been dancing for a long time, and if he hasn't, he sure fooled me. To put it plain, there were a couple of girls that I took notice of, but overall, the guys outshined them in this movie. And I was so amped to see the JabbaWockeez. They are one of the best crews I've ever seen in my entire life.
Would I want to see this movie again? No. Will I buy it? Nope, renting it was fine. But I still have faith that someday there will be a hip hop movie that I can go "That's it! That has all of the elements--great acting, excellent dancing, and an unpredictable plot." At least I hope so because this movie plot was about as recycled as the blue bag program.