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| Battle Of The Year |
America hasn't won the most sought-after B-boying competition 'Battle of the year' since 15 years. As a last resort, a jaded basketball coach is roped in to bring about a change. Can he break the US's jinx as well as get his mojo back?
B-boying (a form of street dance) may have originated in the US but the country has been lagging behind in the much revered international dance competition 'Battle of the year', now hosted by France. Other countries like Korea, Russia and Germany have taken over and have been dominating the dance scene.
Jason Blake ( Josh Holloway) a jaded basketball coach, who had gone into a self-proclaimed exile after a personal tragedy, seeks solace and thus agrees to take matters into his own hands. On becoming the coach, he decides to handpick the best of B-boys in the US and make a 'dream team', as a last attempt to reclaim the country's lost glory. But can the egotistical dancers keep aside their personal differences and rise to the occasion?
'Battle of the Year' is no 'Step Up'. In fact it's a wanna-be 'Chak De India',minus the brilliance. Barring the dance sequences, which manage to impress but are too few, the film is highly cliched and painfully predictable. The usual banter between co-dancers, coach trying to resurrect his career, he making inspiring speeches to the crew, their hardships and insecurities...everything about this film looks borrowed, which is a major drawback. Nothing really holds your attention, except for the confident presence of Chris Brown. But that too doesn't last longer as his character fizzles out pretty soon.
Also the film's attempt at evoking patriotism (like sports
films do) doesn't work at all. No matter how passionate you are for a dance form, to use it in order to arouse nationalism seems futile.
Characters are not developed enough. You don't feel for them. Result being, you end up as mere spectators instead of well-wishers. While the film preaches 'passion' for whatever you do, it is exactly what seems to be missing from it.
