Film Reviews

Stomp the Yard

• Rating:
• Director: Sylvain White
• Starring: Columbus Short
• Details: US / 115mins (12A).

Haven't we seen this film before? I get that Hollywood remake certain films to bring a classic to a new generation. I also get the fact that there can be different spins on basically the same movie if there are ten years or so between them (Freedom Writers and Dangerous Minds) and I'll allow certain movies that had potential to be given a modern makeover. But when the movies become a little incestuous, I get angry. Stomp The Yard is the same film as the very recently released Step Up, which resembled Take The Lead, which was the same as Shall We Dance, which was kind of like Honey, which mirrored Save The Last Dance. Just for laughs, here's the plot: when his younger brother dies, DJ (Short), a troubled 19-year-old street dancer from LA, manages to bypass juvenile hall by enrolling in Truth University in Atlanta - a historically black college. However, his efforts at an education and wooing the girl of his dreams (Good) are put in danger when two campus fraternities compete for his street-smart dancing technique to win the coveted step show competition. Shamelessly predictable, only die-hard dance fans could garner anything from this turgid and laboured movie. Okay, they do have some great dance moves in the opening and closing scenes, but when the filmmakers suggest that pictures of these dancers belong on the same wall as Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr., I say enough is enough.

Review by Gavin Burke