 Bring It On Again (2003) The sincere part of my excitement was that I genuinely loved Bring It On. It's the GoodFellas of the teen comedy genre, a latecomer to the trend that somehow managed to top them all. Infectious energy, bold language, great writing, winning performances, total confidence, and surprising commitment to glorifying and celebrating an unpopular stereotype. The subversive part of my reaction was altogether different: for there are some stories you can really only tell once. There's a reason there isn't a Still GoodFellas. Ergo, the sudden actual existence of Bring It On Again truly calls my bluff, and in this case I have to blink. While I can honestly say I enjoyed it, at least 95% of that enjoyment was purely theoretical. BIOA is a complete retread of the first one, with none of the original characters, and mostly just the setting changed. Instead of a high school cheerleading rivalry, we get a college cheerleading rivalry. That's about all they've done with it. Even the jokes are rehashed … if you laughed during the first one, you get another chance here, as all of the good jokes are literally repeated. Frankly I'd rather just re-watch Bring It On … the sequel is bloodless and uninspired. The plot finds perky Torrance-knockoff Whittier (Anne Judson-Yager) becoming disllusioned with the varsity cheerleading squad, ruled with an iron fist by Big Red knockoff Tina (Bree Turner). One of the strengths of the first one was that Big Red was not the villain, instead a deliciously bitchy character who stole the few scenes she was in. Focusing on the bitchy character here is similar to the increasing focus on Stifler in the American Pie movies …l desperately clinging to something they know the audience will respond to, since they don't have any original ideas to put forth. There's an "urban" sidekick who pumps out lines like: "He was all on you like ugly on an Osborne." Also, an "edgy" indie-rock boy who gets to participate in this routine: "I'm a mixmaster."
Truly the "Who's on First" of January 2004. The Eliza Dushku "outsider" role is filled by an angsty "feminist" character who, despite objecting to cheerleading and all it stands for, joins Whittier in forming a rogue cheerleading squad to supplant the oppression of the varsity squad. College activism! BIOA limps along from one contrivance to another, banking on the fact that you basically just want some bitchy dialogue, a few surmountable obstacles, and an ultimate cheerleading showdown. It delivers all of this, but with none of the innovation, audacity, or wit of Bring It On. The film is very much like most of my college term papers … lazy, perfunctory, and hastily cranked out at the last minute. Yet also like those same papers, it somehow manages to skate by, since everyone knows there's nothing inherently important about it in the first place. There's something comfortable in an endeavor in which both creator and audience tacitly agree not to call each other out on each other's lameness.
Review by La Fée |