Stomp The Yard –
Homecoming (2010/Sony DVD)
Picture: C Sound: C+ Extras: C- Feature: C-
There is a new cycle of
film and related productions being made that has gone highly unidentified and
we will call it “urban danceploitation” that (along with bad reality TV
contests featuring the same) are mainstreaming a negative subculture that has
less to do with art than being condescending to its audience (especially young)
and in narrative cases like Rob Hardy’s disastrous, lame, unnecessary Stomp The Yard – Homecoming (2010),
pointless and tired.
A sort of School Daze (Spike Lee, 1988) for
airheads, dancing rivalries in African American universities and the pledging
to frats by the overaged brats who run them leads to every cliché you can think
of, from fights, to violent threats, to angry dancing (‘oh, I’m angry’) and
yes, a connection to bad street dealings that involve money, death threats and
‘gangsters/ganstas’ who have ‘power’ and will kill and torture if they do not
get what they want.
This would be a
Blaxploitation film if it was actually that smart and had the ironic distance
needed to be so, but instead, is an exercise in hate, clichés, self-hate and
degradation that is like nails across a chalk board for its very, very, very
long 88 minutes running time. Newer
would-be stars Terrence J and Pooch Hall are promoted here, while Jasmine Guy
and Keith David are outright wasted.
There is some talent
here buried (and I mean really buried) in this big, gigantic mess, but this is
one of the most condescending releases of the year and yet another unnecessary
sequel. Let’s call it a franchise
killer.
The 1.78 X 1 image is plagued with motion blur and bad
editing throughout, getting in the way of showing the very dancing this is
supposed to be about to begin with, so that was botched too. Color is limited and mixed, while detail and
depth are limited. The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is a mix of badly
recorded dialogue, bad editing and Hip Hop (et al) that sounds muddier than
even it should. The combination looks
too cheap for its own good throughout. Extras
include Deleted Scenes of no consequence, a making of featurette with focus on
the choreography and director commentary.
-
Nicholas Sheffo
