Bring It On Again (2004) [Widescreen] – DVD

Bring It On: Again
*½/**** Image A- Sound B+ Extras C+
starring Anne Judson-Yager, Bree Turner, Kevin Cooney, Faune A. Chambers
screenplay by Claudia Grazioso and Mark Gunn & Brian Gunn
directed by Damon Santostefano

by Travis Mackenzie Hoover I'll say this much for Bring It On Again: it isn't nearly as bad as you might expect. Against all odds, the straight-to-video production shows traces of wit and a surfeit of good basic ideas in its tale of rival cheerleading squads, but alas, it was not to be: its core concept withers on the vine in favour of slapped-together aesthetics and teen-sitcom repartee. Par for the dtv course, its creators only seem interested in squeezing a few bucks out of the target demographic; the results, though far from painful, cruelly tantalize us with a glimmer of the film that might have been.

Bring It On Again recounts the saga of Whittier (Anne Judson-Yager), a blonde and perky freshman at Cal State University; this being a sequel to Bring It On, she and good friend Monica (Faune A. Chambers) aspire to become cheerleaders. Unfortunately, heading the school's much-lauded cheer team is the sadistic Tina (Bree Turner), a villain who makes the squad into an exercise in pain and social ranking. Given no choice but to leave the team, Whittier is naturally despondent–until she hits upon the idea: she will form her own squad, peopled by the arty and political losers whose extracurricular programs were cut by the administration, then challenge the legitimacy of the original team.

Think of the potential squandered here. Surely someone who properly remembers being in college could have done something with the crazy idea of getting the artists and the bleeding hearts into something as retrograde as cheerleading, and surely there was a little more to be made out of the cowardly administrator who presides over it all. No such luck. Their stereotypes of the losers are half-memories of half-memories–they're people who are into "neo-modern ballet," whatever that is, and who slur their speech in that "swishy" sort of way that screams "Broadway." The writers even drag out that old chestnut, the artsy girl who never smiles, and give her swathes of bad lines that should have embarrassed them to type.

Given the lacklustre efforts elsewhere, it should come as no surprise that director Damon Santostefano is largely AWOL as far as stylistics are concerned. Everything about the film feels thrown together at the last minute–the notion of timing completely eludes the director, and while his cast is game (especially the delightfully snippy Bree Turner), there's no visual evidence of even trying to do something with the shreds of concept handed to him by the writers. All that's left is a handful of elaborate cheer routines, which, aside from the original film, are the only thing Bring It On Again has in the way of a selling point. They are very impressive, but they don't make up for the lack of commitment by most of the principal creative team. All involved know that they're riding down the straight-to-video river of no return–and if we're lucky, they never will come back.

THE DVD
Universal's Bring It On Again DVD is acceptable but nothing more. The 1.85:1 anamorphic image meets minimal expectations, its reasonably good (if slightly fuzzy) definition marred only by a slight redness to the skin tones. The Dolby Digital 5.1 soundmix, meanwhile, is unimaginative, with no real use of the surround channels beyond reinforcing the front channels. Nevertheless, the audio is serviceable, at its best while inundating you with the many hip-hop selections that pepper the score.

Extras include: "Tony G's Cheer Do and Don'ts" (5 mins.), an uninformative rush through safety techniques with the film's choreographer, Tony Gonzalez (Don't #1: "Don't drop the girl"); "Fun Facts! 'Hit Me With Your Best Shot' Music Video" (3 mins.), featuring the cast dancing and mugging to the aforementioned Pat Benatar tune while trivia tidbits appear, "Pop-Up Video"-style; "You're On the Set of Bring It On Again" (11 mins.), which details the arduous efforts involved in casting the film and performing the cheers (and is not bad as far as these things go); and "Cheer Along with the Original Bring It On" (2 mins.), a subtitled excerpt from the first film. There is also an alternate opening (actually funnier than the one that made the cut) and five deleted/alternate scenes (all of which were wisely excised). The film's trailer and trailers for The Skulls III and Johnny English round out the package.

90 minutes; PG; 1.85:1 (16×9-enhanced); English DD 5.1, French DD 5.1, Spanish DD 5.1; English SDH, French, Spanish subtitles; DVD-9; Region One; Universal