Universal Studios Home Entertainment / 2007 / 90 Minutes / Rated PG-13
Street Date: December 18, 2007
List Price: $29.98 [Buy it at Amazon.com]
Directors:
Steve Rash
Starring:
Ashley Benson ………. Carson
Michael Copon ………. Penn
Cassie Scerbo ………. Brooke
Jennifer Tisdale ………. Chelsea
Kierstin Koppel ………. Sarah
Noel Areizaga ………. Ruben
Adam Vernier ………. Vance Voorhees
Rich Freeman ………. Bellman
Wesley Tsukazan ………. Bellman
Lisa Glaze ………. Pepper Driscoll
Jane Park ………. Reporter
The Movie
It’s no secret that sequels have become extremely popular in the last 15 years. It seems like any movie that is popular today has a sequel made within 5 years. But what has become a more common trend than that in the last decade are movies that are now called “direct-to-DVD” sequels. Basically, that means those movies weren’t good enough to make it to theaters because they were extremely lacking something. They must be pretty bad if movie studios don’t even attempt to make money off of it on the big screen. Would the THIRD “direct-to-DVD” sequel of the surprise hit movie, Bring It On from 2000 and starring Kirsten Dunst and Gabrielle Union, buck that trend and actually be good?
In Bring It On: In It To Win It, Carson (Ashley Benson), and her West Coast cheer team the “Sharks”, are returning to summer cheer camp to settle a score against the East Coast “Jets”, to whom the Sharks lost last year. The only problem with that is that an ugly divorce between cheer camp organizers Vance (Adam Vernier) and Pepper (Lisa Glaze) has split the camp in two. Instead of just competing against each other, the teams will also have to compete against Vance’s team, the “Flamingos”, who are rumored to have a secret weapon. When Carson loses the “spirit stick” and members of the Sharks and Jets are injured in a “cheer rumble”, they have a decision to make: go home without competing, or team up to try to defeat the Flamingos.
If you just read the above premise of this movie, you can probably spot the biggest flaw for this film. The story goes in so many different directions that it will make your spin. There are really two different parts to this movie, but neither part makes this film any better. Besides that, the plot is predictable and it’s basically a blatant rip-off of West Side Story. In fact you could argue that this could have passed for a sequel to to that movie with the only difference being that cheerleaders are dancing around here.
But perhaps the biggest reason this movie fails is the characters that are portrayed here. This movie is filled with nothing but stereotypical characters including “sassy” African-American girl, the dumb blond, and the effeminate male cheerleader among others. The film tries to show that these characters have more depth than that, but it really doesn’t work in the end. The acting is decent enough, but they really didn’t have a chance with these non-interesting characters.
On the plus side, there are a few “fun” moments in the film including most of the “cheering” scenes and the aforementioned “cheer rumble”. Other than that, though, there was really no need for ANOTHER sequel to Bring It On. Bring It On: In It To Win It does nothing to stray away from the trend of “direct-to-DVD” sequels being not that good. In fact, this movie could be a good example of what happens when you have too many sequels getting made. This movie is so far from the original, in terms of what made Bring it On work in the first place, that you can barely even call it a sequel. Only hardcore “cheeraholics” will even want to consider watching this film.
The Video:
The video is given in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen color, which is enhanced for 16:9 TVs. The video is really standard for any “direct-to-DVD” film. There are no major issues here.
The Audio:
The audio included is available in either English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround sound, French Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround sound, or Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround sound. There are subtitles available in English SDH, Spanish, and French as well. The music and dialogue come out loud and clear, so no major problems either unfortunately.
The Extras:
“Lights, Camera, Bring It!” Featurette –
This is your standard “behind-the-scenes” featurette. It runs for 9 minutes and it is interesting to hear the cast and crew attempt to “sell” you on how good this movie is. So if you want to know all the dirty details on this movie, go here first.
Deleted Scenes –
There are 9 minutes worth of scenes that got cut from the movie. You might guess that these scenes don’t add much to the movie, and you would be correct.
“The Rumble with Tony G” Featurette –
The choreographer, Tony G, spends 17 minutes with you to teach you some cheerleading moves. He does moves for both the “West Coast Sharks” and the “East Coast Jets”. It’s a big showdown of different cheering styles and this is actually pretty good if you are a cheerleading fan.
Cheer Off! –
More of the same as above, except this time Tony G and the actual actors in the movie do some cheerleading moves. This segment lasts 8 minutes. This is fun to watch only to see the difference between “real” cheerleaders and actors “acting” like cheerleaders.
East Coast Proper –
This is a short 5 minute segment with Tony G again as he teaches more “East Coast” moves and steps.
West Coast Flair –
See above, but this time it’s the “West Coast” moves and steps.
Can’t really recommend a rental here, except for maybe pre-teen and early teen girls. The cheering is decent enough, but they are better off watching the original Bring It On instead since it is 100 times better than this.
