Writer: Alyson Fouse
Director: Steve Rash
Cast: Ashley Benson, Michael Copon, Cassie Scerbo, Jennifer Tisdale
Rating: PG 13
Studio: Universal
Release Date: December 18, 2007

Direct to DVD release sequels are usually not worth watching. They work well if they are children’s movies or family films because children tend to be less picky about things like the plot and overall movie quality. Bring it On: In it to Win It is one of those movies that works as a family film. Kids will love it, parents will be able to sit through it, but it’s never going to come to close to winning any tangible awards.

After the success of the first Bring it On it only made sense to follow it up with additional stories, at least that is apparently what the studio thought. I did not catch any of the other sequels that came in this series and chances are I would not have bothered to see this one had it not ended up on my desk with a need for review.

Release Information:
Bring it On: In it to Win It is the third movie in a line of sequels that revolve around cheerleading rivalries. The movies generally deal with a cheerleading championship and two rival schools with preppy girls who talk smack and are in it to win it! The movies stopped being truly enjoyable after the first film, but they are still a hit with the teen and tween crowds. Bring it On: In it to Win It came out on DVD on December 18, 2007. You can pick this movie up at most major retailers and Amazon where it retails for just under $20.

The Bring it On: In it to Win It Plot
Cheerleading and dancing movies are all the rage anymore. It doesn’t make them all good. In reality, just because they are popular doesn’t make any of them good. The facts are pretty simple in that all dance and all cheerleading movies are relatively the same. The style of dance may be different, but the plots are almost always identical in many ways. Bring it On: In it to Win It is one of those similar style movies. It’s your typical cheerleading, trash talking, teenage indulgence films, but this one has a twist. The twist comes in the form of a play on words based on West Side Story. In this installment of what appears to now be a nearly worthless franchise you have the East Coast Sharks battling the West Coast Jets. While at cheerleading camp, these two groups often rumble, if you will, though it is hardly entertaining in Cheer-Gang form.

To make things amusing the peppy teens make up cheer words that are supposed to be funny. They have Cheer Offs and Cheer Downs and things of that sort. The movie takes place at Universal Studios, where the cheer teams stay at the Hard Rock Hotel. I suppose this serves as a twofold benefit for Universal because they receive the benefit of having made the movie, if it were to become a success (though I hope not because that would encourage yet another sequel), and they have the infomercial appeal down with 90 minutes of life at the theme park.

The majority of the first half of the film is a lot of cheer rumbling. The problem is that the moves of both teams aren’t all that exciting. In fact, if those were the moves they planned to take to the competition, you could see them losing. There is also an unlikely romance that blooms between cheerleaders on opposite sides, making things cattier and more deceptive until the events of both teams explode in their respective faces.

My biggest problem with this installment of Bring it On is that the movie hinges totally on cheerleading and not on the story. If the cheerleading had been impressive then I might have been able to overlook the lack of plot, but it wasn’t that great. The movie’s main theme deals with being true to yourself and your friends. That is fine and will work well for a younger audience. The problem is that there are plenty of things that parents might not want their children to see. The cheerleaders talk a little too much about sex and they seem to have far too much freedom in their adult behavior. This is what led to the PG 13 rating, thus marketing it for a slightly older audience, though the older you are, the less chance you have of finding anything interesting for you to enjoy in this movie.

If the movie was going to be marketed for an older audience it should have had a better story. While this would have been fine for kids, the sex talk raises the bar, and it misses any possible target audience that it could have found due to lackluster performances, undeveloped characters, and sad choreography. At this point, I only hope that the series stops here. I don’t really see that happening, but it would be nice if Universal gave up while they could still have some dignity.

Storyline/Plot:
Replayability:
Acting:
Directing:

Audio/Visual:
Bring it On: In it to Win it was not a movie that I had extremely high expectations for when it came to transfer quality. Considering the fact that it is direct to DVD, this often leaves plenty of room for skimping on quality where big studio flicks are given top treatment. Thanks to Universal backing, it seems that this film also got that treatment. The film looks incredible, done up in anamorphic widescreen with a film transfer of 1.78:1.

The colors are bright and the background looks as good as the foreground. There is little, if any grain present, making the film dazzling when it comes to video. The audio is a Dolby 5.1 mix and it comes through incredibly strong whether you are hearing music or dialogue. Subtitles are available in English, Spanish, and French.

Visual:
Audio:

Bonus Features:
There are a couple special features offered on the Bring it On: In it to Win it DVD. Some of the special features include Universal movie previews (these can be skipped if you do not want to watch them), seven deleted scenes, an extended opening sequence, and a couple featurettes. The featurettes listed include, “Lights, Camera, Bring It!”, “East Coast Proper”, “West Coast Flair”, “The Rumble with Tony G”, and “Cheer Off! Learn How to Cheer with Tony G.” All of the featurettes offer a beautiful look as they were filmed in the same picture quality as the actual movie.

Bonus Features:

Bottom Line:
Bring it On: In it to Win It is the unfortunate movie with no plot and no audience. People will watch this and if they have low standards they might even like it, but it’s not anything that someone with love of a good plot will appreciate. At best, Bring it On: In it to Win It is the kind of movie you watch to keep you from absolute and total boredom. Even then, you only watch it to laugh at it. Save yourself from this one. If your kids love it, I recommend renting it first as you might just find that it is too dumbed down for them to appreciate, as well.

Overall Rating:

Technorati Tags: Bring it On, In it to Win it, Sequel, Home Entertainment, Universal, Comedy, Cheerleading, Universal

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