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Synopsis: DJ (Columbus Short), an amazing underground street dancer, hasn’t been in college for a day before he’s entranced by a lovely co-ed, April (Meagan Good).Working as a gardener to pay the bills, DJ doesn’t fit in with the wealthier students around campus, but one thing does catch his attention – the rival fraternity competitions known as “stepping.”
MPAA: Rated PG-13 for a scene of violence, some sexual material and language.
Production Company: Rainforest Films
USA Box Office: $
61 Million
Worldwide Box Office: $
74 Million
Also Known As: Stompin'
Filming Locations: Atlanta, Georgia, USA | MAK Historic District, Decatur, Georgia, USA
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It's a terrible experience when someone close to you passes and it's even rougher when it's your baby brother. After dancing in a battle and winning a hat full of money Dj "Columbus Short", his brother "Chris Brown" and his team beat the wrong team this time. While walking home in a dark alley the other team jumped them to get their money back but bad turns to worst and DJ's brother is shot and killed. DJ is sent to live with his Uncle and aunt in Atlanta and is expected to go to college. When he arrives on campus he sees some things he's never seen before like fraternities and stepping and it's all downhill from there. During this film DJ learns things that boys need to learn to become men especially love and even gets to do what he loves most while he's there. He ends up becoming a major key to one frat in dieing need of something fresh.
The first time I saw the preview for "Stomp the Yard" I automatically thought, "Wow, the stepping version of Drumline" but at the same time I felt it would be pretty good. Though this movie does resemble Drumline the story differs a bit. The first being "Darrin Henson" (Soul Food the series) who is a good actor but a dancer and choreographer first and I would say a better choreographer than actor since he probably makes more money off of it. Of course the others being "Chris Brown" and "Columbus Short", most of the cast are dancers acting unlike "Drumline" where Nick Cannon was an actor who had to learn how to play the drums. Even the two frats remind you of "Drumline" one frat has an old school style and hasn't won in 7 years and the other has a grimey aggressive new shchool that never loses.
Darrin played his character well and though Chris Brown wasn't in there that long he did ok but Columbus Short danced better than he acted and it took a little from the movie. He didn't show the same feeling and emotion in his acting as he did in his dancing. You can see this in the film when he loosens up when he dances and then starts to get really tight when he goes back to acting. There was only one big problem I had with "Stomp the Yard", the first being how the story is told. In the middle of the movie when DJ is pledging to get into a fraternity his pledging is basically skipped and he's in.
The stepping and overall choreography is amazing and gets better towards the end of the film. The acting was cool as well as the story but still the dancing outshines them. The history told in this movie makes me proud and gives the movie that extra something. It would've been really cool though if they shined a little more light on where stepping came from and why it's so important in black colleges today. Overall this is a very good movie that was made very well but I have to say that I think women will enjoy this more than guys, when you see it you'll know what I mean.
STOMP THE YARD comes as a pleasant surprise to those of us who have yet to be introduced to 'stepping' - a sport/dance form that is not break dancing, not hip-hop, not modern dance, not clogging, not ballet, but instead is an exhilarating display of rhythm, physical dexterity, and creative choreography that makes this little film well worth watching.
The story is minimal and hackneyed and serves basically as an outline for the dance performances. DJ (the enormously talented dancer/actor Columbus Short) is sent from Los Angeles to Atlanta's Truth University after his conviction for street brawling, a fight in which his brother (Chris Brown) was killed. Once on campus DJ is works for his uncle as a gardener and is soon courted for his step dance skills by two rival fraternities. One fraternity gains DJ's attention and he pledges. Of course there is the requisite love conflict (the beautiful Meagan Good as April), who just happens to be the girlfriend of the rival fraternity step leader (Darrin Henson), and the usual undercurrent of familial dichotomies between DJ's humble background and April's influential father bring the tension to the front: the result is DJ's triumphant performance in the annual stepping competition between the two fraternities. The ending is predictable but sensitive and with a message.
The real star of the film is the magnificently choreographed and executed dancing, performed by the actual cast members. Director Sylvain White and his choreographers center their attention on the big sequences and the result is very fine entertainment. In addition to the gifted Columbus Short and Darrin Henson the cast includes such fine actor/dancers as Brian J. White, Ne-Yo, Laz Alonzo, Oliver Ryan Best, Richmond Duain Martyn, Justin Hires, and many others. It is difficult to resist the excitement of the commitment of this fine cast to the introduction of step dancing to the public at large. So much talent! Grady Harp, May 07
This is an enjoyable movie. The actors all do a very good job -- no small feat considering some of the leads are dancers and not actors -- and of course, the dancing is all it's cracked up to be. The plot is mildly engaging, even though it's thoroughly predictable and has been done over and over. Sometimes characters seemed to change too quickly and do things that were out of character; but plot isn't really what this movie is about. This is a dancing film with a very simple conflict story thrown in -- the kind that usually drives low-brow sports comedies, of underdog team against a dynasty, and two members of those teams having a personal grudge.
Honestly, I didn't start off enjoying this film. I'm not hip enough to keep up with the gangsta dance battle that takes place at the beginning of the film, especially the way the camera was jerking around; I had a hard time distinguishing between dancers, etc. and was not anywhere near familiar enough with the dancing to have any kind of sense for who was better or why. But I did end up liking (not loving) the film by the end. And I do appreciate artistically the way the director deftly changed the whole look and mood of the movie from the dangerous street dancing in the opening's gangland LA to the more peaceful intensity of the rest of the movie's Georgia college setting. It helped lend a sense of repressed danger to Columbus Short's lead character that made the threats of his frat-boy enemies seem disingenuous.
Short, by the way, turns in a quiet performance in the most critical role that really glues the film together.
To summarize, this film is worth a look as a rental. Whether or not you want to own it would depend on how much you enjoy the dancing sequences.
Video On Demand ~ Christopher B. Stokes
Video On Demand ~ Jessica Alba
Video On Demand ~ Nick Cannon
Video On Demand ~ Julia Stiles
Video On Demand ~ Tamer Werfali
Video On Demand ~ Martin Lawrence
