Rent Battle of the Year (2013)

Battle of the Year review by George Hooper - Cinema Paradiso

Imagine if you will Coach Carter, a smart, tough and righteous basketball coach who brought a team from nothing to achieve something no other coach could have. Now imagine that Coach Carter after his triumphs faced a series of losses so great it ripped out his soul and turned him into a boring, emotionless husk. Now make him a dance instructor and you have Battle of the Year, a horrifyingly bad picture too formulaic to even describe.

The film follows down and out coach Blake (Josh Holloway), a man who has lost those close to him as he is given a second chance by being given the position of coach of the US B-Boy team. Blake starts training these boys for the ultimate competition in B-boy, the Battle of the Year. With the help of a few trusted assistants and some friends Blake might just be able to make a team worthy of entering the competition.

While the film is filled with plenty of well choreographed dance routines, in fact a whole film of dance would appeal to me but there is very little to enjoy when the film dips into the often distressingly cheesy main story. Holloway is a likable mess but the films script is so disastrous he spews faux inspiration left right and centre. Not only that but Josh Peck continues his spree of poor performances as Blake’s apprentice coach, a role that requires more than the little bit of face twitching Peck provides.

Ultimately this team building exercise is a mix of poor quality direction, acting and writing but it does have plenty of captivating dance sequences that lots of time and effort have been devoted to. The dancing is well presented, lively and the best part of this emotionally flaccid film and that is a crying shame.