Stomp the Yard

I caught Stomp the Yard in a matinee today at my favourite cheap theater. I had been interested in seeing this when it first came out, but didn't get a chance. I guess now that I've seen it, I'm glad I didn't spend ten bucks to see it.

Columbus Short stars as DJ, a young man who enjoys battle dancing with his group, until he suffers a tragedy. He gets sent to college to keep out of trouble, enrolling in the predominantly black Truth University in Atlanta, Georgia. He immediately falls for one of the campus hotties April (Meagan Good, who was kickass as Max in D.E.B.S.). Of course April has a boyfriend and of course he becomes DJ's rival. DJ finds himself in between two rival fraternities who catch some of his dance moves. They each want him on their team to help win the national step competition. I don't think I even need to keep on with plot details as you've seen this movie many times in previous incarnations.


The movie began with a Baz Luhrmann type battle dance sequence. You know what I mean, those trippy, frenetic, seizure-inducing jerky visuals from Moulin Rouge! and Romeo + Juliet. This went on during most of the intense dancing scenes, which was too bad because I wanted to see what the dancing looked like without them. Columbus Short was good as DJ. Other than that, it was very predictable and formulaic. I still rooted for his team in the end, but from about fifteen minutes in you could see the plot coming a mile away. The dancing was cool, but I feel I would enjoy a documentary on step dancing more than Stomp the Yard.



More ramblings to come.........