Dawn Koh
Did the directors of Scary Movie, White Chicks and Little Man, the Wayans brothers deliver as their promo poster promised – the “funniest movie of all time” with Dance Flick?
Well, they may have tried to, but certainly forget all about originality by making the plot for Dance Flick a total parody of Save the Last Dance (2001). In case you need a refresher, that movie was about a white American Sara who snuffs out her dreams of being a ballerina after her mother dies in a car accident. She then moves in with her father to a black neighbourhood. Transferred to a new school where she’s a minority, she makes friends with Chenille, and eventually falls with Chenille’s brother, Derek. Derek, a popular student with a passion for hip-hop dancing revives her dreams.
Now, let’s replace names. Sara is Megan (Shoshana Bush), Chenille becomes Charity (Essence Atkins), and Derek is Thomas (Damon Wayans Jr.). However, there were a few edits in the plot. Thomas isn’t popular, but a street thug together with his buddy A-con (Affion Crockett) who owes big gangster Sugar Bear (David Alan Grier) $5,000. Thomas and gang take part in a street dancing competition to win the 5 grand.
The first scene is a hip-hop dance competition in a wrestling ring together with some unreal dance moves, such as spinning on heads till the break-dancer takes off like a helicopter and flies out of the window, while another drills a hole in the ground. This scene also involves Thomas literally taking a piss on his competitors while dancing. One dancer also sticks his own head into his own a-hole. Trust me, you’re gonna spend your time laughing right from the start of this film, if crude visual gags like this do it for you.
This sadistic comedy carries on with parodying Crash (2004), where the cop went to take a bottle of gasoline out of the car instead of helping Megan’s mother while she was in the car accident. Also, they show you how Megan’s mother died tragically through various ways. Another scene worth mentioning is where Charity just popped her baby out while she was break-dancing on the dance floor, and hangs her baby in the school locker.
Parodies didn’t stop at the plot, it moved on to the characters as well. For example, Tracy Transfat (Chelsea Makela) was supposed to be the irrepressibly chubby Tracy Turnblad in Hairspray (2007), while Jack (Brennan Hillard) was the send-up of Troy Bolton in High School Musical, etc. The latter was hilarious, but you may find if offensive if you’re a huge fan of either the popular Disney movie or Zac Efron himself. In this film, Jack’s gay and he comes out singing, proclaiming his homosexuality, in the school corridor with the schoolmates creating beats, which is so High School Musical. The lyrics sing, “Now that you know I’m gay, I’ll be gay forever. I’ll always love guys” to the melody of “Fame” by Michael Gore and Dean Pitchford.
Parody and satire can be seen throughout Dance Flick, and though they are humourous to a certain extent, after about 40 minutes into the show, you can’t wait for it all to end.
Lifestyle magazine popmatters.com, was spot-on in its review that said, “Dance Flick delivers what you know it will—fat jokes, dead parent jokes, gay jokes, race jokes, girl jokes, and boy jokes. The comedy is trivial, the formula mundane, and the full-employment opportunities for the Wayans impressive. It can’t be surprising that the movie is unsurprising.”
This UrbanWire reviewer has to agree that this film lacks intelligence and is filled with such bad jokes that make you just wish you could leave the theatre. 5 years after the Wayans brothers have deteriorated horribly, compared to White Chicks (2004), which at least was memorable.
If you’re desperate for a laugh, you could give Dance Flick a chance, but don’t expect the effects to last for long. Be sure to watch it on the weekdays, so you won’t waste so much of your money. Alternatively, just watch the trailer, it already contains most of the comedic scenes in it.
Trailer:
https://youtu.be/qVlHnzWElOY
Opens: Sep 3
Duration: 83 min
Language: English
Rating: NC-16
Genre: Comedy, Music
Director: Damien Dante Wayans
Cast: Shoshana Bush, Damon Wayans Jr., Essence Atkins