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There’s not nearly enough quality material to make Battle of the Year recommendable (much less, accessible) to anyone other than the most hard-core of dance fanatics.
Battle of the Yearexplores the advanced world of Bel - boy dancing or vitamin B - boying ( the original term for breakdancing ) , which uprise back in New York in the seventies , but over the year since then has evolved into an international fun / competitive art form . When the movie pick up in the present - day , fifteen years have passed since the American squad gain ground at the B - boying reality patronage . Perhaps even uncollectible , the U.S. team has set up a reputation for being little more than a police squad of cocky , self - absorbed , hotshots ( rather than collaborators unified in their synchronic performance style ) .
Former B vitamin - boying trendsetter - turned L.A. articulatio coxae - hop mogul Dante Graham ( Laz Alonso ) is determined to put his country back on top in the sport , lest it cause the popularity of hip - hop refinement in general to belittle in the U.S. ( look , just go with it ) . He seek the assist of his old friend Jason Blake ( Josh Holloway ) , a former champion basketball coach who lost his way after meet a personal tragedy - but with only some three month for preparation , can Blake put together a joined squad that is capable of bringing the boron - boying trophy home to the country where it all started ?
Director Benson Lee previously helm the B - boying documentaryPlanet B - Boy ; in fact , that motion picture is literally integrated into the tale that screenwriters Brin Hill ( Wo n’t Back Down ) and Chris Parker ( Vampire in Brooklyn ) devised forBattle of the Year . However , Lee ’s new dance moving picture ravage the fortune to explore how B - boying organically set aside for - and is work by - unlike cultural influences and mannikin of individual expression - a means to unify hoi polloi from dissimilar backgrounds in the U.S. ( and even around the orb ) . Instead , the movie skimp on developing that estimation , by instead lazily promoting xenophobia , ethnic stereotypes and a half - baked sense of what it means to have national superbia .
move beyond howBattle of the Yearis just flawed on a basic philosophical level : the movie is also a laughable assembling of cheesy underdog sports genre banality , sapless melodrama , and perplexing slam composition / redaction choice that sometimes make even the most incredible athleticism on display in the terpsichore sequences tire to watch . This is the sort of movie where characters say things like"That ’s not who I am anymore!“and"He went from white dough to Wonder Bread!“and it is meant to be need completely serious . Heck , if Will Ferrell had been barf instead of Josh Holloway , this movie could ’ve been a spot - on parody of the sportswoman motion picture writing style .
Fan - favorite Josh Holloway ( Lost ) makes a worthwhile exploit to give his character some compelling subject matter , yet his protagonist ( as write ) is so thinly - sketched and uncreatively derivative of previous onscreen carriage ( did I note that he has a imbibing trouble ? ) that his try are in vain . The same could be said for Laz Alonso ( Deception ) in the few scenes that boast him , in addition to Josh Peck ( Red Dawn ( 2012 ) ) as Franklyn - a young Judaic man with a real grasp for the art of B - boying - and Caity Lotz ( Arrow ) as the ( if you ’ll pardon the wording ) tough - cookie female choreographer lease on to work alongside the American team .
The best developed of the American B - boyers is the arrogant - but - talented Rooster ( Chris Brown ) , yet eventhatcharacter is flat ; not to cite , the dancer - and the man who play him - has an obnoxious presence , thus surcharge the dramatic beat that involve him of any earnest substance . affirm players like Jon " Do Knock " Cruz , Ivan " Flipz " Velez , Jesse " Capser " Brown and the legion other venial cast member who possess logical mad dancing skills ( see : notBrown ) are often not even distinguishable by their name - the script might as well refer to them as " Rooster ’s competition , " " The Token Gay , " " The Guy Who hat the Token Gay , " etc .
But what about the dance numbers , i.e. the main divisor that will prompt people to seeBattle of the Year ? Well , regrettably , there ’s not that much in the way of pure B - boying in the movie ; not to mention , several of the dance - training scene are blandly pip and splice together with other rail line of action mechanism in badly - conceived treble - split - screen montages . Credit where acknowledgment ’s due , though , a good chunk of the third human activity and climax are dedicated to finely - tune up show numbers of the B - boyers flipping , jumping , bending , contorting and dare gravity like nobody ’s business organisation , in sequence that are take in a satisfactory fashion - and thus , make seemly use of the 3D constituent ( though , it ’s hard to argue that alone is enough to justify pay the supererogatory ticket surcharge for a 3D screening ) .
As a whole , though , there ’s not intimately enough quality stuff to makeBattle of the Yearrecommendable ( much less , accessible ) to anyone other than the most hard - marrow of dance fanatics - and even they may require to think twice about watch the movie in theaters . Everyone else , this is just potential next home viewing material for a drinking game : take a shot every time a professional dancer points and oohs at his opponent or Josh Holloway gives a pep talk ( … or when there ’s an unnecessary reaction stab featuring Chris Brown ) .
If you ’re still on the fence aboutBattle of the Year , contain out the dawdler below :
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Battle of the Yearis now playing in U.S. theaters . It is 109 mo long and Rated PG-13 for voice communication and some ill-mannered behavior .
Battle of the Year is a dance drama directed by Benson Lee, following an American breakdancing crew aiming to win the international competition. The film stars Josh Holloway as the team’s coach and Laz Alonso as a reluctant sponsor. Set against a backdrop of intense training and personal challenges, the movie portrays the struggle to reclaim global dominance in the world of competitive hip-hop dance.
Battle of the Year is a dance drama directed by Benson Lee, following an American breakdancing crew aiming to win the international competition. The film stars Josh Holloway as the team’s coach and Laz Alonso as a reluctant sponsor. Set against a backdrop of intense training and personal challenges, the movie portrays the struggle to reclaim global dominance in the world of competitive hip-hop dance.
