Review of Battle of the Year (2013) by Tom S — 16 Oct 2013

Swanner: Once again Brian and I had to split movies. He went to see Prisoners and I saw Battle of the Year (BOTY). I think I got the best deal out of it. I'm sure Prisoners is good with it's all star cast but I got hip hop dancing and my movie 45 minutes shorter. Once a year there is a Hip Hop dancing competition in France that brings in the best dance crews from around the world. It's called the Battle of the Year and the American team hasn't been showing well. Music executive and ex-hip hopper Dante Graham (Laz Alonso) takes over the American team and brings in Jason Blake (Josh Holloway), an old crew member, to coach the team. They bring together all the best dancers in the nation to make up a hip hop "Dream Team".

Director Benson Lee really did bring together some of the best dancers in the country including local boy Dominic Sandoval (America's Best Dance Crew) and singer Chris Brown, yes he's got the moves. Lee was the director of the documentary Planet B-Boy which showed the love of hip hop dance around the world including the Battle of the Year contest which is highlighted in the film. The writers borrowed from Rocky giving the film more of a sports movie feel and less of a musical. I also liked that they didn't cloud the story with any romantic fodder. They are trying to create a team and chicks just mess that up. If you've seen the recent group of dance movies it's always the same story that Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney performed in during the 30's and 40's. We need to save the dance hall so lets put on a show. This movie is more for the love of the dance and it was quite refreshing.

The choreography and the cinematography are both excellent and made Lee's job all the easier. I really like dance movies like this and as I mentioned earlier I was really glad it was about the dancing and the team and less about the individuals. It's a real ensemble piece. I really haven't mentioned how good the dancing is but you have to see it to believe it. The stunts these performers do are just mind-blowing. This one is a keeper. It's available in 3D but it doesn't have to be in 3D so if a cheaper 2D option is available than see it. Either way see this movie it you're any kind of fan of the genre.

Swanner ***.