Stomp The Yard (DVD)

DJ Williams is a hell of a dancer but his arrogance gets his younger brother killed. To make amends, DJ decides to live his brother’s dream of getting out of LA and going to college. There his skills on the dance floor bring him to the attention of the leaders of the university’s two stepping teams. Both think he has what it takes to win him the national championship, but DJ’s more interested in keeping his head down and making a play for beautiful ...
...discovers what teamwork is all about.

I have a guilty secret and that is that I love inspirational dance movies like “Save the Last Dance” or “Take the Lead”. They are all so predictable, usually feature dancers that can’t act or actors that can’t dance, but are supremely reassuring because you know exactly what’s going to happen. The same can certainly be said of “Stomp the Yard”, but it lacks the finesse to be a truly enjoyable example ... more

DJ Williams is a hell of a dancer but his arrogance gets his younger brother killed. To make amends, DJ decides to live his brother’s dream of getting out of LA and going to college. There his skills on the dance floor bring him to the attention of the leaders of the university’s two stepping teams. Both think he has what it takes to win him the national championship, but DJ’s more interested in keeping his head down and making a play for beautiful fellow student April. But he is gradually won over and discovers what teamwork is all about.

I have a guilty secret and that is that I love inspirational dance movies like “Save the Last Dance” or “Take the Lead”. They are all so predictable, usually feature dancers that can’t act or actors that can’t dance, but are supremely reassuring because you know exactly what’s going to happen. The same can certainly be said of “Stomp the Yard”, but it lacks the finesse to be a truly enjoyable example of the genre. Too many things happen just to enable the plot to keep running and the execution is often clumsy. For instance, DJ’s pursuit of dream-girl April is literally laughable. He falls for her on sight and their relationship escalates far too quickly for it to be realistic. Pacing is a major issue throughout; you’re never given the opportunity to get to know the characters, so you won’t care about them. The rate at which things change is too fast, so you never for an instant believe the characters’ motives or choices because everything happens just to fulfil the requirements of the story. There is nowhere near enough narrative to fill the hundred and fourteen minute running time. Consequently many of the stepping and slow-motion training montages and dance-offs feel like filler material, as does DJ’s back-story that only tells you he’s arrogant.

The nosebleed edited dance sequences convey the excitement of the urban and stepping styles, but mean you miss out on the detail. Though you must appreciate the acrobatic feats involved and the level of skill required to carry off some of the more extreme, breakdance-influenced moves. DJ’s special move is particularly impressive. That being said, some the competition stepping routines are horribly cheesy and will no doubt have you cringing through them.

The screenplay by Robert Adetuyi is a college movie by the numbers. A kid from a poor background makes it to an elite establishment, makes himself unpopular with the most popular guy in school by chasing after his girlfriend (who has been treated like dirt), makes an enemy of the dean by dating his daughter, impresses everyone with his skills, joins the underdogs, gets thrown out but makes a triumphant return to save the day when his enemies’ nefarious dealings are uncovered and of course he gets the girl. The problem is that the template is clearly visible throughout, so various events and characters are clear plot devices. The death of DJ’s brother is an entirely unnecessary device to get the chap to university – it would have been easier just to give him the desire to better himself. The romance between him and April doesn’t develop organically; it’s just a way to create conflict between DJ and Grant, the head of the Mu Gamma fraternity and April’s father, who just happens to be the dean of the college. It would have been more acceptable if the way their relationship progressed wasn’t so hackneyed. He impresses her with his dancing, engineers tutoring sessions to spend more time with her, tells her she deserves better than her boyfriend and so on. Meanwhile she persuades him how wonderful fraternities are and after a single trip to the old boys’ club hall of fame, he’s converted and sets about pledging the underdog Thetas and teaching them how to dance. In reality there’s no way this kid would want to join the snotty old boy networks that are designed to make life for their members better through nepotism.

The characterisation is weak. DJ is defined by his ability to dance and his guilt over his brother’s death. April is an allegedly smart girl demoted to a plot device, Grant and the dean of the university are cardboard cut-out villains and Sylvester (leader of the Theta fraternity) in an honourable archetype. The subplots are obvious (there’s one involving a failed romance between DJ’s aunt and the dean) and the alleged twists feel like they’ve been borrowed from a soap opera. There are too many coincidences so nothing has the ring of truth. The dialogue is clunky and you can predict everything that’s going to be said, right down to the ridiculous rallying monologue.

I suspect Columbus Short was cast as DJ on the strength of his dancing (he has a side career as a choreographer) because he’s no great shakes in the acting department. He appears incapable of expressing all but the simplest of emotions. Consequently he spends most of the film either blank-faced or frowning as if constipated. He doesn’t share any chemistry with Meagan Good, making a mockery of their relationship. Simply being limber doesn’t make up for any of his shortcomings.

I really liked Meagan Good in “Brick” – she was an effective femme fatale and really showed her acting chops. So the part of April feels like a step down for her; a barely-there poor little rich girl love interest with nothing to do but look polished and doe-eyed. Darren Dewitt Henson is a toothless villain as head of the evil Mu Gamma fraternity. He hasn’t enough presence to be menacing, though he can at least keep up in the dance routines. Brian J White fares slightly better as head of the honourable Thetas, Sylvester. He at least has a modicum of charisma.

The soundtrack goes everywhere you’d expect a black dance movie to go – from hip-hop to krump, sickly R ‘n’ B to scratch and blues it’s all here. There isn’t a single style or track that stands out. The same can be said for the allegedly original music features a series of repetitive twangy string refrains that apparently exist just to fill silence. In an attempt to add excitement, the composers throw in odd bouts of military snare drum and electric guitars. And April gets her own dreadfully saccharine Spanish guitar motifs. This is of course all topped off by the confrontational lyrics of the many chants that accompany the stepping routines.

The dance routines are thoroughly and sharply choreographed. Synchronisation is the key to the sub-militaristic style of stepping and it is always impressive to see a group of people moving as one, especially when the routines become as complex as they tend to here. The dancers are confident and well practiced knowing exactly what they should be doing and when at any given moment. The krump numbers are equally, if not more impressive because of the physical skills required to excel. It combines elements of hip-hop, break-dance, popping and acrobatics you’d be impressed by if you saw a gymnast doing them. In concert, they are breathtaking, if confrontational.

“Stomp the Yard” is worth seeing if you’re a fan of the urban dance scene. If, however, you are looking for something with a decent storyline and engaging performances, you’d better look elsewhere. The film is predictable, hackneyed and lazily written. It lacks directorial flair and has the gall to slap a subtitled moral onto the end of the movie, just in case you didn’t get the gist about how important it is to rise above your circumstances. It continues the American obsession with progression by any means, suggesting that everyone should join a secret society, given the opportunity because it will allow them to advance themselves. This is low-rent filmmaking whose impressive dance sequences can’t make up for the lack of plot. 

...less