Dance Flick

Rating

Director
Damien Dante Wayans
Screenplay
Keenan Ivory Wayans, Shawn Wayans, Marlon Wayans, Craig Wayans, Damien Dante Wayans
Length
83 min.
Starring
Shoshana Bush, Damon Wayans Jr., Essence Atkins, Affion Crockett, Chris Elliott, Christina Murphy, David Alan Grier, Amy Sedaris, Kim Wayans, Lauren Bowles, Brennan Hillard, George Gore II, Chelsea Makela, Ross Thomas, Shawn Wayanas, Marlon Wayans
MPAA Rating
PG-13 for crude and sexual content throughout, and language

Review
The film spoof genre has been in decline for a number of years. Despite my enjoyment of the medium on a general amusement level, I have never really considered these types of films to be high art. And Dance Flick is certainly the least artful of these films to date.

A garish and frequently unfunny spoof of the recent dance film craze, the Wayans brothers tackle everything from Fame to Step Up to Footloose and several films in between. There are even a few jabs at popular musicals such as Dreamgirls to be had. This is also the first time I can remember that they have employed actual musical numbers. From the food-loving “I Am Telling You I’m Not Going” spoof to the “Fame” parody called “I’m Gay”, the film does better in these routines than in its other rote bits of humor. Matter of fact, “I’m Gay” is the highlight of the film. Too bad it came at the 30-minute mark and not later in the film. Even the actors have become less attractive. Gone are the days of pretty actors who are actually funny like Alyson Hannigan, Anna Faris and Matt Lanter; instead we get the not-as-funny-as-they-used-to-be Wayans (the whole brood and their offspring) and the cute but dull Shoshana Bush.

While I won’t stop watching them, I am pretty sure they’ll probably stop making them. The franchise hasn’t proven as lucrative as it used to and when you’ve mined nearly ever Hollywood film of the last decade, you don’t have very many places to go. Even the purported sequel Scary Movie 5 has disappeared from IMDb, so I guess we’ll have to wait for another generation to discover some new talents and some humorous spoofs and I guess I can’t say that I’ll be too upset not having a new version every year.
Review Written
January 17, 2011