Movie Review: Stomp the Yard

Movie: Stomp the Yard (PG-13)
Released: January 12th, 2007
Runtime: 1 hr. 55 min.
Ticket Price: $5.00 Early Matinee
Refreshments: Rolo
Starring: Columbus Short, Meagan Good and Chris Brown
Director: Sylvain White

Rating: Worth an Early Matinee –

Synopsis: A talented street dancer from Los Angeles deals with the death of his brother due to tragic circumstances while attending Truth University in Atlanta. He has his eye on a pretty young woman while trying to focus on his studies. Yet, he ends up in the middle of a battle for stomp supremacy between two rival fraternities over his dance skills for an upcoming competition.

Review: While Stomp the Yard is a formulaic romance drama, it does seem a little deeper than those that have come before. My first thought was that this was Drumline, but with stepping instead of drumming. It is similar to that and other movies like You Got Served but this was a bit more developed. The historical themes, lessons in teamwork and having strong character all play a part in the story. These themes seem more the point of the movie than just all the cool dancing. The movie ends with a quote: “Intelligence plus character – that is the true goal of education.” Martin Luther King Jr.

The hero of our story is DJ, a street dancer from Los Angeles whose brother was killed after they had won a dance battle on rival turf. He is sent to live with his aunt and uncle in Atlanta and given the opportunity to attend Truth University. On his first day, boy sees girl across a crowded room. Boy pursues girl. Boy finds out girl is dating a jerk. And, it only continues down the same well-stepped path that we have seen before.

It is too bad, considering the wider themes of the movie that they went with an array of stock villains. Not that they were evil people, just the characters that throw up the roadblocks and stand in the way of our hero. They didn’t deviate from the standard in any way. You have seen them before and unfortunately will be seeing them again.

The dance battles and the rhythmic stepping sequences are amazing to watch. They are why most will go see this film. While I am definitely not in the target demographic for this movie (I am assuming high school teenagers), I did enjoy it to some extent. Stomp the Yard is worth and early matinee, in my opinion, if only to check out the outstanding dance sequences on the big screen, as they won’t look or sound as good unless you have a really nice home theater system.

That is my movie review of Stomp the Yard. What did you think? Leave your Stomp the Yard review in the comments.