Review of Fired Up! (2009) by Chads — 21 Feb 2009

"Fired Up" plods on without consequence in a sort of no man's land where both male and female audience members will be disappointed by the film's equivocal handling of the tropes prevalent in such teen "classics" as "American Pie" and "Bring it On".

Conjuring hormonal-fueled hi-jinks under the parameters of its PG-13 rating, devitalizes the horndog-to-human being transformation that Shawn(Nicholas D'Agosto) and Nick(Eric Christian Olsen) undergo when the delinquent football players both find love in what was, on first impression, the Shangri-La of booty calls: a cheerleading camp.

The film's relative wholesomeness has the stagnating effect of making the jocks' lascivious natures seem wholesome by association; in effect, killing the anarchic spirit that is crucial to a genre which celebrates bacchanal decadence and godless immorality.

"Fired Up" is a sex comedy that won't go to first base; it's a starter film for pre-adolescents not ready to lay their eyes on Shannon Elizabeth's immaculate breasts. "Fired Up" is the filmic equivalent of a training bra.

As for the cheerleading-specific scenes in this bland, would-be comedic romp about the two sexes, to paraphrase John Lydon of Public Image Ltd., "This Is Not a Poor Man's Bring it On", either.

"Fired Up" is not worthy enough to kiss the hem of Kirsten Dunst's lycra skirt. The routines are lost in the shoddy editing, and adding insult to injury, the infectious girly-ness of the Peyton Reed film is replaced by a sort of post-feministic plot point, in which the squad's impending success is contingent on Shawn and Nick's participation during the final cheer-off.