DVD Review - Bring It On: Fight To The Finish
Straight To Video Cheerleading Sequel Has Spirit and a Clumsy Script
Sep 3, 2009
A new showcase release in the "Universal DVD Originals" series, Bring It On: Fight To The Finish is the fifth (that's right, FIFTH!) film in a largely unconnected series of cheerleader stories spawned by the feisty 2000 original starring Kirsten Dunst.
"Now The Real Nightmare Begins" - Christina Milian In Suburbia
Video director Bille Woodruff (Beauty Shop) brings some style to the project, beginning the tale with a goofy high school dance-off that turns out to be the dream of angst-filled heroine Lina Cruz (Christina Milian). Her crippling anxiety stems from the fact that her waitress mother has married up and is forcing a family move to the prissy realm of Malibu, California.
This means abandoning Lina's East Los Angelino lifestyle and chances at winning the annual All Stars cheer squad competition. Much to her chagrin, Lina's only similar option at Malibu Vista High is to join the Sea Lions - a pathetic group led by her annoying stepsister Skyler (Reese Witherspoon lookalike Holland Roden).
To make matters worse, some mega-spoiled members of the championship-winning team The Jaguars attend the same school, and go out of their way to bully and torment the sad sack Sea Lions. Lina becomes a prime target for their abuse once she catches the eye of alpha-Jag Avery's hunky brother Evan (Cody Longo).
The only solution? Teach those nasty Jaguars a lesson by usurping their throne at the upcoming All Stars performance. The only problem? The girls of the Sea Lions seem to lack any sort of talent, and certainly can't perform Lina's hip-hop influenced moves.
Malibu Barbed - Jaguars Versus Sea Lions
While most sports movies would insert a handy montage sequence demonstrating a slow acquisition of skill, this film's flighty script (by Elena Song and Alyson Fouse) has Lina inviting her East L.A. friends (Vanessa Born, Gabrielle Dennis) to live in her new palace and join her school. There is a weak attempt to explain the feasibility of this ploy, but it is a clear indication that this movie favors fun over logic.
The ensuing clichés run from Evan's tendency to clutch a basketball wherever he goes to the over the top rich girl snottiness delivered by the Jaguars. While the script aims to craft delicious villains, it instead delivers utterly horrible excuses for human beings. Avery (Rachele Smith) is a one-note joke who delivers a litany of offensive racist diatribes. One would rather see this evil shrew hit by a bus than merely bested at a sporting event.
Milian also never seems to quite grasp Lina, playing her as an obnoxious, antisocial brat one second and a hyper-giggly airhead the next. And for all of her attempts at being a proper role model for young girls, she delivers a shocking amount of cheesecake here. Sure, the script omits swearing and sex scenes, but there are copious shots of bumping, grinding and extraordinarily low-cut tops.
And while there is some visual flash to the final showdown (aided by the choreography of Tony Gonzalez), the film fails to build any sort of lasting tension. The ultimate competition becomes a bland series of performances with needless cuts to E! News correspondent Giuliana Rancic. It sorely lacks that "can they do it?" vibe. Film: 5 out of 10
Audio/Video Quality - Seeing Double Of Bille Woodruff's Imagery
Now that Blu-ray has become the standard for quality home video, it's as if the Universal crew have gone out of their way to make standard definition DVDs look even worse. This release features average contrast and passable colors, but is crippled with insane amounts of edge enhancement. The sound however is fine, and showcases the booming hip-hop flavored soundtrack without a major emphasis on surround placement. Audio: 6/10 / Video: 4/10
Extras - Tony G and Milian Steal The Show
The extras are decent enough, starting with roughly fourteen minutes of deleted scenes. Some of these are surprisingly lengthy and contain much-needed explanatory subplots. The disc also sports a pair of "making of" featurettes delivering an insightful glimpse into the choreography process and how regular actresses can be turned into convincing cheerleaders.
There are also a series of extremely short Milian video diary pieces that serve more as a quick curiosity. An interesting final addition is a half-hour episode of the Mun2 network show The Chicas Project, in which the two hosts attend a real cheer camp in Texas. Extras: 6/10
Bring It On: Fight To The Finish is charming enough with its cheesy Spanglish dialogue and energetic performances, but it fails to stick any memorable landings. Die-hard cheerleading fanatics will want to add the DVD to their trophy cases, but the rest of the world should just await its inevitable free premiere on ABC Family.
 |
