Genre: Comedy
Director: Damien Dante Wayans
Cast: Damon Wayans Jr., Craig Wayans, Shoshana Bush, Essence Atkins, Affion Crockett
RunTime: 1 hr 23 mins
Released By: UIP
Rating: NC-16 (Sexual References)
Official Website: http://m.thedanceflick.com/

Opening Day: 3 September 2009

Synopsis:

"Dance Flick" is a hilarious new comedy that brings together the talents of two generations of the Wayans family, the explosively funny clan who brought us the "Scary Movie" franchise and "White Chicks," as well as the groundbreaking TV series "In Living Color."

In "Dance Flick," a young street dancer, Thomas Uncles (Damon Wayans, Jr.), from the wrong side of the tracks and a beautiful young woman, Megan White (Shoshana Bush), are brought together by their passion for dancing and put to the test in the mother of all dance battles.

Movie Review:

Question: How many Wayans brothers does it take to make a movie? The answer here, apparently, is six. There’s Damien Dante, the director and co-writer; Keenen Ivory, Shawn, Marlon and Craig, all writers as well; and not forgetting Damon, who plays the lead in the movie. Back in the year 2000, it was the Wayans clan who started the proliferation of parodies with their riotously funny “Scary Movie”.

While two of their “Scary Movie” co-writers- Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer- went on to exploit the spoof genre to its death by churning out some of the worst movies of the past few years (i.e. “Date Movie”, “Epic Movie” and “Disaster Movie”), the Wayans brothers have largely stayed away from doing another parody (except for the first sequel to “Scary Movie” in 2002). So you’d understand how expectations are naturally higher with “Dance Flick”, their return to the genre after a seven-year hiatus.

Alas, “Dance Flick” doesn’t come close to being anywhere as funny or entertaining as their career-defining “Scary Movie”. Instead, the Wayans commit the same fatal mistake here as the stinkers from the Friedberg-Seltzer duo- by biting off more than they can chew. Parodies work best when they pick movies produced from a certain formula and play on their stereotypes in the most irreverent manner possible.

“Dance Flick” picks at the formulaic dance movie- privileged girl meets street boy and falls in love through dance- by using a skeleton of a story most reminiscent of “Step Up” and its sequel “Step Up 2 the Streets”. But the Wayans are not content just referencing movies like “High School Musical”, “Save the Last Dance”, “Stomp the Yard” or “You Got Served”; no, they had to go on and spoof others such as “Black Snake Moan”, “Ray”, “Enchanted” and even “Twilight”- the result of which is a wildly uneven ride that loses its bite along the way.

Sure, there are genuinely hilarious moments in “Dance Flick”- like the one where an oversized loan shark and drug lord, Sugar Bear (David Alan Grier in a fat suit) breaks into an intense rendition of “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going” from “Dreamgirls” singing “You’re gonna feed me” instead of “You’re gonna love me”. But in between the laughs is a lot of slack and some truly what-were-they-thinking instances.

Not that there weren’t those in “Scary Movie” as well; however, the Wayans style of hyperactive nonsense delivered fast and furious at their audience clearly seems less inspired and less focused this time round, leaving “Dance Flick” with more miss than hit moments. Even their usual blend of crude and crass racial and sexual jokes seems muted this time round- the most vulgar of which is Amy Sedaris’ dance teacher character who possesses a grossly enlarged anatomical sexual organ.

Indeed, first-time feature film director Damien Dante doesn’t have the movie-making experience of his uncle, Keenen Ivory (who directed “Scary Movie” 1 and 2) and it shows from “Dance Flick’s” limp pacing to its poorly-choreographed dance numbers (some of which are clearly unintentional). But seeing as how this is a Wayans’ clan effort, there’s no excuse why family hasn’t helped its own make a better movie.

Quite unfortunately then, “Dance Flick” joins the dung heap of parodies that Hollywood has shamelessly trooped out for no better reason than to con moviegoers looking for some brain-numbing fun and laughter. And seeing as how movies like “Stomp the Yard” or “You Got Served” didn’t exactly catch on with audiences here in Singapore, it’s even more likely you won’t be laughing much at all.

Movie Rating:



("Dance Flick" is one more reason why Hollywood needs to stop making fun of itself.)

Review by Gabriel Chong