2004
Rated: PG-13 for adult language, and violence.
Genre: Sports Comedy
Directed By: Damon Santostefano
Running Time: 1:30
Review by: Felix Vasquez Jr.
Review Date: 12/06/05
DVD Features:
# Alternate opening
# Deleted and alternate scenes
# Tony G's Cheer Dos & Don'ts
# Fun Fact viewing mode
# On the set
# Cheer-along
BRING IT ON AGAIN

 


Whittier: Well, it's going to be tough to beat them, but Rocky beat Apollo Creed right--? What? Apollo beat Rocky?

Now, I shall channel "Subliminal Man". Bree Turner (hot) really manages to steal the show (hot) here standing out (hot!) among the rest of the cast (talented) presenting more charisma (hot) than basically anyone else here. She's great (hot) as the catty alpha female (convincing blonde) who runs the school varsity team (hot) and with a better script (hackneyed) she could have really shown her raw talents (hot) among the rest of the cast who look lightweight beside her. She's over-the-top and sexy enough to handle most of the comedy and really comes out among everyone else (hot). Meanwhile, the choreography was still damn exciting to watch, including with the final climactic scene involving the warring cheer contests.

Finally, the long awaited--well, not long awaited--finally the much anticipated--well, not anticipated, finally the curiously thought of... well no one actually wanted this. Well, anyway, this sequel of the direct to video status is what you'd suspect is the sequel to "Bring it On". Now, much to everyone's surprise, I thought "Bring it On" was an original and very entertaining comedy about cheerleaders and delved in to the sports world of that facet. And it was butchered to death with a company that refuses to know when to quit, and thus, here's the sequel. Suffice it to say "Bring it on Again" is less a bad movie, and more pointless.

There's really no need for a sequel, especially one that has a new cast and story. When the big draw for this is described as "That girl from One Tree Hill", you know they're stretching. My thought was that perhaps the money spent on the production would have been better spent on an original story. The first film was posh talented cheerleading team versus inner city talented cheerleading team, the battle of the classes, the haves and have not's, but here it's reduced to your typical nice cheerleaders versus bitchy cheerleaders. Whittier is a girl who has just arrived to college and moves in with her best friend, both of whom have aspirations of being cheerleaders. But not just any cheerleaders, Varsity cheerleaders who rule the school and have the full financial backing from the university. They join the team but quit when the lead cheerleader focuses her aggression on Whittier's friend.

The writers hint that the head cheerleader focuses on her due to racism, which would have been a ballsy story twist that would have granted this a higher rating, but they naturally shy away from it, and put it in the back burner in exchange for a lighter mood halfway through. Had the writers gone with that theme and approached it as a more comedic sub-plot I could have respected its willingness to tackle such a subject, but they go for more rich kids versus poor kids with a very derivative "Mean Girls" vibe. "Bring it on Again" is also very unfunny which is a sad departure from the original which took comedic glimpses in to the world of cheerleading, and examined the type of competitive behavior among the teams.

The gags are mostly compiled of forced slapstick, one-liners that really fail to spark a laugh, and often times the scenes are much too dependent on Summers who is good here, but fails to keep the support in terms of character. Meanwhile this bland sequel is just running on fumes. The characters are forgettable all except for Bree Turner, and it's a shame the lead stars don't have enough charisma to make this actually entertaining. Anne Judson-Yager as Whittier is wooden while Faune A. Chambers is nothing but a racial stereotype sassing it up as the supporting star. The director can never seem to invoke energy in the production with often hackneyed direction in the truly pivotal scenes, one of which cuts off the main stars body. Chalk it up to the wide screen transfer to full screen, but it was much too cut off to consider that.

Yes, this is a very weak sequel that takes an original concept and recycles it in to another teen comedy. With forgettable performances, and a bland script "Bring it on Again" is insanely unnecessary, but the choreography is still top notch, and Bree Summer is hot. I'll be awaiting the sequel "Bring it on some more", "Bring it On and On" and the eventual porn counterpart "Bring it on all over Me".

 

 

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