Film Reviews

Dance Flick

• Rating:
• Director: Damien Dante Wayans
• Starring: Shoshana Bush, Damon Wayans Jr., Essence Atkins
• Details: US/83mins (15A)

It was a matter of time before the current trend of dance movies were lampooned. I suppose we should just be thankful that it was the Wayans Brothers who tackled it this time, and not the morons behind Date/Epic/Disaster Movie. Still, that is somewhat akin to choosing which way you are brutally murdered. The Wayans can be funny enough when they want to be, but with Scary Movie they merely rewrote dialogue from Scream, and - once again - they do something similar here, borrowing lines from Save The Last Dance and Step Up. A couple of laughs aside, this is just as stupid and pointless as you expect it to be. Needless to say there isn't really a plot to speak of; more a collection of scenes from dance flicks, mostly centring on the years old “revolutionary” Julia Stiles effort, Save The Last Dance. In fairness, most of the other 'hippity hop' films that followed, ripped off 'Dance', so it does seem a strangely logical decision to go back to that production as a starting point from which to take the piss. Other characters and scenes from Hairspray, High School Musical and Fame pop up, none of which are particularly funny. The spoof movie really has died a death of late, and it's pretty easy to see why. Not since Airplane has there really been a send-up that sent the chuckle-tremors down the spine. We've had a bunch of Naked Guns, and a barrage of Scary Movies but not one of them has even begun to bring a fraction of the funny. Dance Flick is harmless enough, but it's only really worth recommending in that it's not as bad as the recent glut of despicable efforts with 'Movie' in title. The Wayans Brothers are mostly restricted to cameos, as Damon's son (Damon Jr.), makes his feature debut. He might still be talented, but if he is, he'll need better material to show it. If you're in a particularly stupid/drunk mood, this could have some sort of morbid attraction, otherwise dust off that VHS of Airplane and start laughing.

Review by Mike Sheridan