By KC IFEANYI

kni002@latech.edu

 

Just by watching the trailers, one would think this movie was destined to be nothing but flashy step moves, hip-hop music and no storyline.

For those who thought that, two out of three ain’t bad.

“Stomp the Yard,” directed by Sylvain White, serves it up with dynamic dancing, music from artists including UNK and E-40 and most of all, a surprisingly touching plot.

“Stomp the Yard” follows the life of DJ Williams (Columbus Short), a talented street dancer from Los Angeles who has good intentions but just cannot seem to leave the hood behind.

The audience is immediately thrown into an underground dance competition where DJ’s crew obviously has a rivaling team. After DJ’s brother, Duron (Chris Brown), shuts down the competition with an impressive solo performance ending in a crowd-pleasing headstand, the bad blood bubbles over in a brawl outside the building.

After a few punches are exchanged, things get serious in a hurry when someone shoots and kills Duron. Time elapses showing DJ going to jail for aggravated assault and then traveling to Atlanta to live with his aunt and uncle.

While in Atlanta, DJ attends the fictional, historically black school, Truth University.

Guilt ridden and feeling as though he does not belong, DJ struggles to find his place at Truth. That is, until the sight of April (Meagan Good) takes his mind off his troubles momentarily.

After showing off his skills in a nightclub, DJ inadvertently catches the attention of the leaders of the two fictional rivaling fraternities at Truth, Theta Nu Theta and Omega Nu Psi.

Without giving too much away, DJ decides to pledge one of the fraternities and introduces his style of street dancing to their traditional stepping.

Everything comes to a head at the end of the movie when the two competing fraternities make it to the final round of the National Step Show Competition and battle for the title.

“Stomp the Yard” was definitely a surprise hit in my opinion. I was especially impressed by not only the dancing, but the acting skills of R&B artists Chris Brown and Ne-Yo.

The only criticism I have of this movie is the fact that the storyline about Duron’s murder is overshadowed by the romantic subplot. Albeit cute and flirtatious, I think the movie briefly loses its focus by placing the spotlight on the love triangle between April, DJ and April’s boyfriend, Grant (Darrin Dewitt Henson).

Even though “Stomp the Yard” caught some flak from the real fraternity Alpha Phi Alpha for using their name and colors in a few scenes that were later removed, audience members, Greek or not, should enjoy this highly entertaining and energetic movie.