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Bring it
No, don't worry this is not an April fool's issue. There is an actual screenplay called Bring it On Again. We also have a new collaborator called Verbal. Don't worry he's not fictitious. I hope you enjoy his UDC debut. Did you hear the announcement that Peter Jackson's next movie would be King Kong? Then maybe you remember we told you all about that script months ago.
Bring It On Again Script Review
"I have seen Bring It On far more times than I'd like to admit. I caught it on video, after I steered clear of the theater to save the embarrassment of witnessing a look of utter confusion wash over the theater employee's face as I ask for a ticket to a cheerleading film. It was a surprisingly good film. From the opening dream sequence on, I constantly laughed and was wowed by the impressive dance routines. Peyton Reed got pitch perfect performances from the lead actresses, and the dance routines were well executed and shot. It was easily the best written teen film I'd seen since Clueless. Bring It On was released on August 25, 2000 and eventually made a whopping $68 million on a meager (by today's standards) budget of $10 million, so a sequel was inevitable by Hollywood standards.
Bring It On Again by Claudia Grazioso was thus written to capitalize off the original's popularity. The script starts where the original left off but with different lead characters. Whittier, a 17 year old, blonde ex-Toro cheerleader, and Monica, a striking, African-American ex-Clover cheerleader, are freshmen roommates at Southern California State University, home of the 22 year national cheerleading champion Mustangs, with aspirations to be a part of the illustrious squad. Whittier, Monica, and others make the team and are driven near their physical breaking point at the hands of head cheerleader Christina (think 'Big Red' from the original but with blonde hair). Some 'newbies' complain and are thrown off the team. Whittier feels self-righteous, so she quits the team to start her own. I won't give anymore away even though the script is ridiculously predictable.
There are some major problems with this script. There is little characterization to be found. All that can be said about Whittier is she's a young, blonde cheerleader who 'must' be on the team. Why does she love cheerleading so much? How does dancing make her feel? Why is she willing to risk serious physical strain to simply be a cheerleader? I don't have a clue what the answers to those questions are because I don't know anything about Whittier that I didn't learn from the brief description written on page 1. All that can really be said about Monica is she's young, good looking, loves to dance, and won't take being told to do something in a forceful manner. Doesn't that describe a lot of people? To make matters worse, clichés are in abundance. There's the homosexual, male cheerleader who comments on people's outfits and hygiene and spouts lines like 'I so don't do torture'. There's the clumsy, clueless cheerleader who doesn't understand a word anyone says and does anything the varsity cheerleaders tell her to in order to 'fit in'. Then, there are the mindless, football jocks who do whatever the cheerleaders tell them to even if it means beating up one of their own teammates in the process.
The dialogue is frankly horrible. I attend a cheerleader-infested college and very few talk like the cheerleaders in this script. Here's a bit of dialogue:
GUY
So you're an okay dancer.
MONICA
Okay?!
He laughs. She laughs.
GUY
(ceding)
Better than okay.
MONICA
Better than okay?
(hands on her hips)
Tell me, has that line ever worked for you?
GUY
I'm hoping it will tonight.
It's so bad that it enters the realm of scary. It lacks the wittiness and creative humor that made the original work so well. There are probably 10 jokes (more like attempts at jokes) in the entire script, and each one can be seen in countless films.
The main thing the film version of this script has going for it is the dance routines. It's hard to judge whether action scenes will translate well from paper to three dimensions, but if they're anywhere close to what is written on the page, they could be extremely fun to watch. The 'fish out of water' sense of a few routines should be pretty funny as well.
I was disappointed after finishing the script because it could have broken new ground in a seemingly underdeveloped genre of sports film. Since this script is 11 months old, many rewrites have no doubt been performed. Hopefully future drafts have at the very least leaned more towards the comedy genre without going the common teen film route of 'gross out' humor. After all, films with very little substance have been known to heartily entertain moviegoers (Bringing Down The House, anyone?). If the dialogue is revised and characterization is also filled out, it could be an entertaining video/DVD rental. Expect it in a video rental store near you sometime this year."
(Review submitted by Verbal)
Stay tuned...
That's all folks...
Jean-François Allaire (aka DeadPool)
Questions, comments, praise etc. Email me at deadpool@tnmc.org
Jean-François Allaire is TNMC's first columnist. At only 24 years old he has become a respected entertainment journalist, with his columns appearing in Corona's Coming Attractions and Scr(i)pt magazine. He also writes a monthly column in Screenwriters Monthly entitled 'The Last Word.' Hailing from Montreal this young writer is determined to dig up all the details on the movies before they hit your local theater. If you're part of a movie production then you really need to be talking to him.
