Two friends’
relationship is challenged after losing to another dance crew.
CRITIQUE
First and
foremost, before I go on to say anything else about You Got
Served; one thing must be made abundantly clear… THIS IS NOT A
FILM ABOUT BREAKDANCERS!! In fact, the only break dancing in the
entire film occurs during the final five minute battle. That’s it!
Every single movie review that mentions that this is a break
dancing film PROVES that they have no idea what break dancing is.
The filmmakers have absolutely no clue as to what they are doing.
Any B-Boy or B-Girl that likes this film immediately loses all
credibility and must be blacklisted. Do I sound cruel? Well, I’m
not. That’s how much this film misrepresents the break dancing
community.
Now to give you my
credentials. No, I’m not a B-boy, but I do know quite a few of them,
the Inland Empire crew Battle Monkeys in fact, and I’ve been to
battles with them as well; to go further on that, I knew them when
they were still getting started as SFA. I’ve seen the videos of B-Boy
Summit and other national (and international) competitions. I have a
pretty good idea as to what a battle looks like thanks to my friends,
one of them, Jon “Do-Knock” Cruz, is a member of the villainous Wade’s
crew in the final battle of the film and has a twenty second set.
So I reiterate.
This film completely misrepresents the break dancing community. Any
crew that comes to a battle solely with elaborately choreographed
routines would be laughed at. Such routines things may look good in a
music video, but in reality they’re just stupid. They don’t impress
anyone. The battles in the film are far too rehearsed to provide any
real enjoyment. What makes a battle great is its spontaneity—this is
partially brought up in the DVD’s “making of”—and this film doesn’t
give us that.
In fact, this
film’s sole existence is to give the hip-hop group B2K a chance to be
movie stars. The film, directed by video director (and B2K manager)
Christopher Stokes, fails in every way. There is no story at all. The
story is nothing more than every single sport and urban film cliché
thrown into a blender. The film even has a “practicing in the rain”
segment and a drug dealing subplot (which doesn’t fit anywhere in the
film and ends very abruptly.) Most music video directors make lousy
film directors because they don’t seem to know how to work a linear
story. Stokes makes every dance number look like a music video, even
going so far as to add camera shakes whenever our heroes stop on the
ground. His direction is amateurish at best, and this film is
definitely not “at best.”
The only acting in
the film comes from Steve Harvey, who is okay considering what he has
to work with. Could the members of B2K be credible actors in the
future? I’m not certain. They seem to be having fun in the film, which
is okay, but they don’t act. You never believe the tension between the
leads and definitely don’t believe their make up at the end. Our
villain, Wade, is completely annoying, and, according to the audio
commentary, he’s not acting.
The choreography is
laughable. If you’ve seen one choreographed music video you’ve seen
every single routine in this film. They are boring and pretty
embarrassing to watch, plus there is no soul in these dances. Watch a
real battle and you’ll see what I mean.
The film will only
appeal to B2K fans and moviegoers who are easily impressed. You Got
Served is a 93-minute B2K music video, that’s all.
THE VIDEO
The video looks
pretty good. The film does seem like it’s a little dark, but then
most of the film is set at night or inside a warehouse, so it
doesn’t interfere. Overall, not a bad presentation.
THE AUDIO
Although
presented in Dolby 5.1, the surround doesn’t work. I never felt
like was at a real battle (still, even with a good surround, I
would feel like I was at a REAL battle.) The music never
interferes with the dialogue, which I’m not sure is a good thing.
It’s an acceptable presentation, but not a good one.
THE EXTRAS
Video/Audio
Dance Commentary:
This commentary features the director, producer, a few of the
lesser cast members, a few of the B-boys (who should be
ashamed), and the choreographers. While this commentary does
provide some information, it’s not all that interesting because
you quickly get sick of everyone. If you really MUST hear about
how this film was made, this is your best bet. Oh yes, they also
threaten us with a possible sequel.
Director and Cast
Commentary:
Well, they do make comments on the film, so I guess, technically, you
can call this a commentary. When listening to a commentary track and
in the first five minutes of the film the most in depth things the
cast has to contribute is “ooh,” “whooh,” “checkit,” “dang,” “yeah,”
and “uh”… you start to worry. And trust me, things don’t improve.
Serve it Up – The
Making of You Got Served:
Interview with the cast and director. The only people who really know
what they are talking about are the breakers, and it shows.
Badaboom by B2K:
The music video tie-in to the film. Strange, it looks just like the
movie. I wonder why.
Battle of the Beat: A montage of the “battles.” Just in case we erased them from our
memory.
Dance Breakdown:
Edit your own dance scene with this multi-angle feature.
FINAL THOUGHTS
This film sucks.
There is no way to avoid saying it. If you want to see a film about
break dancing, see a good one. Rent Beat Street,
Breakin’ or Breakin’ 2 and keep your dignity. Avoid
You Got Served at all costs.
