Jump In! – Freestyle Edition
Picture:
B- Sound: B- Extras: C+ Film: C+
Another
Disney Channel Original Movie has hit the shelves with Jump In! – Freestyle Edition.
The 69th Disney Channel Original to be exact. The film’s plot is quite similar to that of
Disney’s High School Musical and even stars a fellow cast member (Corbin Bleu
as Izzy). Izzy is the son of a champion
boxer and Golden Glove winner and hopes to follow in his father’s footsteps. Izzy already being a great boxer is well on his
way to success, until one day his world is turned upside down. At his father’s request Izzy is told to take
his sister to a Double Dutch Jump-rope competition. At first Izzy thinks the whole thing is a
joke, but soon finds himself excited and cheering.
Izzy
treats Double Dutch like a joke until his neighbor Mary (who he fancies)
challenges him to do a speed jump. It
turns out Izzy’s speed from boxing has made him a pretty fast jump roper as
well. Izzy is asked to join the girls’
squad after another member quit, but refuses fearing what the other guys may
think. Somehow Izzy’s mind changes and
he tells the girls he would like to be a permanent member. But life isn’t easy when you try to balance
Boxing and Jump Roping!
Ok, the
plot sounds a little like High School
Musical…which sounds like Grease…
which sounds like many other films and many other musicals… but come on. What do you want? Something new and fresh? The story is a bit hokey and this reviewer
did find most of the children in the film obnoxious, but overall it was fun and
kids will enjoy the fast passed, music driven nature of the film. If nothing else you get to see competitive
jump ropers…that is cool …right?
The
technical features of this Freestyle
Edition DVD are nice as are most Disney DVDs. The picture is presented in a simple 1.33 x 1
Full Screen that gets the job done, but should be widescreen. The colors are nice but there lacks a certain
crispness and there are a few light/dark issues. The sound is a nice Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
that is strong but gets a bit softer for the music oddly enough. The extras are nice but have little
rewatchability. Extras include ‘Learning the Moves: Corbin Bleu teaches you
how to double dutch,’ ‘Inside the
Ropes: The Making of Jump In!,’ Keke Palmer Music Video for ‘Jumpin,’ and the T-Squad Music Video for
‘Vertical.’
The film
was fun, but Disney has done much better.
At times the storyline was stretching it, but this reviewer is sure kids
will jump right on in.
- Michael P Dougherty
