12/17/2023 0 Comments Stomp the yard 3![]() His uncle allows him to start college and start a job, giving him the chance to start over. and in with his aunt and uncle (Harry Lennix of The Matrix Series). After a rage-fueled brawl takes his brother's (singer Chris Brown in a cameo) life, DJ (Columbus Short) moves out of the streets of L.A. Stomp the Yard is as much entertainment as any film I've seen recently. An interesting (yet predictable) story, an interesting lead, and incredible dancing. I expected a cheesy movie with some cool moves, but this dance movie gave much more. But I work at a movie theatre and got to see this the night before it was released for free, so I sat back and watched. Now normally, I'm not a fan of these kind of movies. It is difficult to resist the excitement of the commitment of this fine cast to the introduction of step dancing to the public at large. White, Ne-Yo, Laz Alonzo, Oliver Ryan Best, Richmond Duain Martyn, Justin Hires, and many others. In addition to the gifted Columbus Short and Darrin Henson the cast includes such fine actor/dancers as Brian J. Director Sylvain White and his choreographers center their attention on the big sequences and the result is very fine entertainment. The real star of the film is the magnificently choreographed and executed dancing, performed by the actual cast members. The ending is predictable but sensitive and with a message. Of course there is the requisite love conflict (the beautiful Meagan Good as April), who just happens to be the girlfriend of the rival fraternity step leader (Darrin Henson), and the usual undercurrent of familial dichotomies between DJ's humble background and April's influential father bring the tension to the front: the result is DJ's triumphant performance in the annual stepping competition between the two fraternities. One fraternity gains DJ's attention and he pledges. Once on campus DJ is works for his uncle as a gardener and is soon courted for his step dance skills by two rival fraternities. DJ (the enormously talented dancer/actor Columbus Short) is sent from Los Angeles to Atlanta's Truth University after his conviction for street brawling, a fight in which his brother (Chris Brown) was killed. ![]() The story is minimal and hackneyed and serves basically as an outline for the dance performances. STOMP THE YARD comes as a pleasant surprise to those of us who have yet to be introduced to 'stepping' - a sport/dance form that is not break dancing, not hip-hop, not modern dance, not clogging, not ballet, but instead is an exhilarating display of rhythm, physical dexterity, and creative choreography that makes this little film well worth watching. For it's genre, however, it's as good as there is. It's pretty much what you think it is from the trailers, but it's a very well made version. If you're on the fence about seeing this film. Also, it's new in subject matter, which makes it different from it's peer films. I enjoy films of all types, and I can honestly say that this is a solid film for this genre. Still, I thought that the messages in, the performances in, and the overall execution of this film was better than any in this recent group of college age/friendship genre films. I, for one, am not big fan of "Greek" organizations. These are the people who might want to see this film and learn of something new. It's also obvious that they know nothing of the subject of this film, stepping. You can see by some of the comments made by some of the IMDb commentators, so to speak, that they never saw this film. I just feel sorry for the kinds of people who would make spreading hatred a part of their lives. How pathetic is that? I'm glad that this film was a financial success, despite the "haters". It's a shame that so many people who have obviously never seen this film used their time and energy to rate this film a 1. ![]() It's a shame that so many people have such hatred in their hearts that they won't expand their own minds by learning of cultures outside of their own. The performances - acting and dancing - were very good. It hits it's notes very well, and the direction and choreography are on point. Most of these inspirational films aimed at young people are. Yes, the film is predictable, and at times cliché. The real shame is that someone might come to IMDb, see that this film is rated 2.6, think it's a legitimate rating, and not see this film.
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