Battle of the Year

The young dancers' undeniable skill and athleticism is squandered in this formulaic, overly familiar dance movie.

Dismal, clich-ridden stuff.

In particular, as mentioned, the dance sequences are a mess, which is the kiss of death for a film in this genre.

its dramatization of a U.S. dream team's journey to the international showcase is leaden with predictable character types and storytelling clichs, neither of which its well-executed but oddly infrequent dance sequences are able to overcome.

The bar for urban-flavoured dance movies has already been set pretty low, but Battle Of The Year effortlessly leans back and limbos on below it.

The actual dancing scenes are occasionally electrifying, if far too sparse, but other than that and the welcome sight of co-star Chris Brown getting clocked in the face, the film barely gets off the ground, much less sticks the landing.

Instead of allowing his film to be uplifted by dance, Lee burdens it with a cringe-worthy dramatic narrative.

Proof that any movie can get made somehow.

Characters are not developed enough. You don't feel for them. Result being, you end up as mere spectators instead of well-wishers. While the film preaches 'passion' for whatever you do, it is exactly what seems to be missing from it.

Not only does it fail to use 3D, with its rapid edits, but the dramatic stuff is poorly edited and sound mixed as well.