Bring it On: Worldwide #Cheersmack - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Bring it On: Worldwide #Cheersmack

Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score: ​

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Movie
I’m not sure where to really begin with what I just saw. I’m still kind of reeling and dizzied from the array of inane dialog, crass humor, and millennial social media jargon that I am honestly left almost speechless. To be fair, the speechlessness part could have been me looking for the nearest bottle of whiskey I could find to sear the images from my brain, but that could be me splitting hairs. I have to say I’ve never seen any of the 4 other sequels to 2000’s Bring it On, but if they are anything like Bring it On: Worldwide #Cheersmack then I am supremely grateful that I never had to subject myself to this type of drivel. I hate to admit it, but the original Bring it On is one of my guiltiest pleasures. It was a hilariously fun move that recognized it’s own awfulness and just reveled in winking at the camera. The movie never tried to be anything more than a movie about a high school cheer squad learning to work together and having a few cute romances along the way will shaking it on the big screen. Well, there may be this small thing of having a young Eliza Dushku in a cheerleader outfit, but I wouldn’t know anything about that (innocently whistles and looks around). Worldwide #Cheersmack is the lowest of direct to video fodder, and makes one want to just give up stop watching movies altogether if this is what we’re being subjected with.

The Rebels cheerleading squad has been led to three national championships by head cheerleader Destiny (Cristine Prosperi), but things are getting a bit out of hand. They are effectively Cheersmacked (yes they used that term) at a regional championship when an “underground” group of cheerleaders hack the live stream dressed in black and wearing kabuki masks, ala anonymous, and issue a challenge to the over confident rebels. Instantly the world turns against them and they start losing Instagram follows (oh no! Not the Instagram followers!) with all forms of social media and cheer teams dissing them. I know? The humanity! Soon Destiny and her squad are in dire straits as people think they’re a sinking ship and start jumping said ship. With 4 less guy cheerleaders the team has to recruit fresh meat if they’re to survive. When everyone and their mother turns the arrogant Destiny at her offer, they are forced to pick from the “lowest” of the low. A group of street dancers headed up by the mysterious Blake (Jordan Rodrigues).

However, their newfound treaty with the male street dancers takes a nose dive when one of their own team stabs Destiny in the back and splits the team in two. Now Destiny has to come face to face with the reality that she’s not the nicest person in the world, and maybe she should get off her social media soggy rear end and actually make some human connections. Only thing is, it may be too late. Ok, who am I kidding?! It’s never too late for one of these movies. Which means, Destiny will gt the help of the rest of the street dancers and whip the tar out of her back stabbing ex-cheer mates at a world wide cheer smackdown.

I have been told many times “thanks for taking a bullet on this one Mike”. Well, I took the full magazine on this one, because I can feel each wound from every second of this movie clearly and painfully. Brain bleach is not enough to wipe out the cheesy acting and atrocious dialog. I really DO like Bring it On, but Worldwide #Cheersmack is an effort in patience and frustration. The plot line is about as bare and cliched as you can get, with writer Alyson Fouse bringing in the standard love pair offs, and overly simplistic struggles of rich cheerleaders. What makes it even more bizarre is the fact that this is supposed to be a high school cheer squad, yet there’s not a single sign of a school anywhere in sight, or even a parental figure as the girls just lounge about their palatial mansions (literally, some of them are mansions) and hashtag everything.

The one good thing about the film is that they DO tear into the ridiculousness of a social media driven society, but even that is hampered by the films obsession with making EVERYTHING a # or quip about some other Instagram butt selfie. They overlay visual chat and hashtag messages over EVERY screen in the film, and by the time the credits are rolling I was willing to burn my phone just so that I could not be subject to another “cheertastic!” message. The actors do a limited amount of good with what they’re given, but most of the them are just chosen because they had tight abs and/or could dance their heinies off their almost 30 year old bodies (of course playing 17 year olds). I did find it interesting that the Bring it On movies have almost morphed into a version of Step Up or You got Served with cheerleading outfits. The films seem to be incorporating a LOT more straight up funky fresh dance moves than cheering, which once more, alienates itself from the original movie’s message and just becomes another “dance movie with hot people doing hot things”.




Rating:

Rated PG-13 for crude sexual material




Video:

Well, the one bright spot in this mud covered landscape is the fact that Worldwide #Cheersmack is given a fantastically sharp and brilliant encode by Universal. The imagery is bright and shiny, with a glossy digital veneer, and super sharp clarity. Sometimes the clarity and glossiness is so much that it almost has that overly processed digital soap opera look, even though the framerate doesn’t match that usual look. Colors are well saturated and lifelike, with the pinks of the Rebels uniforms contrasting with the whites and dark’s of the dance stage. Facial details are crisp and well defined, and you can see every drop of sweat, and every face painting line of each and ever dancer throughout the film. There’s some mild dithering in a few scenes, but banding is never a problem and no other artifacts show their faces. Well done Universal.




Audio:

The 5.1 DTS-HD MA mix is quite exuberant, with a heavy electronic and pop/dubstep track that grates the nerves of older people, but seems to fit in with the dance club going millennial generation. Bass beats are deep and hefty, adding plenty of punch to the copious musical numbers throughout the film, but when the music dies down, it’s a fairly front heavy affair. Dialog is the main event then, and while there are some ambient background noises, it really does use the front three speakers more often. However, the tons of music present easily take up about 50% of the track, which really does energize those surround channels with enough activity to warrant a good thumbs up.
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Extras:

• Around the World: Building the Squads – Discover how actors were able to master the escalating difficulty of cheer routines choreographed by Tony Gonzalez featuring teams from South Africa and Brazil.
• A New Routine – Filmmakers, cast, and crew discuss what sets the latest chapter of the Bring It On franchise apart, including focusing on social media's potential negative impacts in the world of all-star cheerleading. This piece also includes cheer teams from England, Ireland and Costa Rica.
• The Look of Bring It On: Worldwide – A look into how the set design and costumes provide a vibrancy and unique flair to the film's backdrop.
• Gag Reel

Final Score: ​

I wanted to at least consider Bring it On: Worldwide #Cheersmack to be a livable DTV film, but even with the gorgeous Vivica A. Fox as the mysterious “cheer goddess” I couldn’t bring myself to even have one modicum of respect for the film. It’s a shining example of a movie that is made to the lowest bidder and churned out there emotionless profit. I wouldn’t recommend the film to my worst enemy, let alone a teenage girl. Simply put, it’s about as entertaining as dragging your arms through a pile of broken glass for 3 hours, then washing yourself in salt water. Audio and video are great, but the extras slim, and the movie abhorrently incompetent. Don’t even look at the cover, it may infect you.




Technical Specifications:

Starring: Cristine Prosperi, Vivica A. Fox, Jordan Rodrigues
Directed by: Robert Adetuyi
Written by: Alyson Fouse
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 AVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 5.1, French, Spanish DTS 5.1
Studio: Universal
Rated: PG-13
Runtime: 95 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: August 29th, 2017

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• Michael Scott
• May 11, 2017

Recommendation: Run in Sheer Terror

 

[tripplej]

lol.. Thanks for taking one for the team.. Lol..

Oh man.. You may have to wash your eyes out now..

 

[Michael Scott]

eyes....ears....brains... all need bleach now

 

[Todd Anderson]

Might I suggest getting rid of all of your equipment and starting new?

 

[tripplej]

lol. Everything has been contaminated.. All future reviews may have to have an asterisk next to them.. lol.

 

[tripplej]

I was curious, why this franchise is still making movies, interesting is that they are making money off of each one, so there must be a big niche market who likes this series..

Bring it on (2000) - Movie plus DVD sales - $90,453,550
Bring It On: All or Nothing (2006) - DVD sales only - $19,264,078
Bring It On: In It to Win It (2007) - DVD sales only - $24,245,617
Bring It On: Fight to the Finish (2009) - DVD sales only - $22,495,340

Impressive considering the last 3 were straight to DVD....

 

[Michael Scott]

the last FIVE were straight to home video. These things always make money on the home video market

 

[tripplej]

Amazing.. Goes to tell you, there is a movie out there for somebody..

 

[JBrax]

I'm gonna have to hard pass on this one. Truly surprised you even reviewed this one Mike. Sometimes we should all just know to pass regardless of the review.

 

[Michael Scott]

lol, I'll review what they send me, and this was just one of those titles