The Internet Movie Database is one of the most respected movie website
on the Internet. On that site they have the top 250 “best movies”
list compiled by the highest graded movies by the users on the IMDB. The
Godfather is currently at the top of that list and rightfully so. The
movie was made back in 1972 and after 32 years, it is still a widely popular and respected film. On the other hand, the IMDB also has a top 100 “worst
movies” list, modeled in the same fashion, only of course with the worst
movies. Leading that list is You Got Served. It
is about six months old now, yet is the worst movie EVER according to the users.
Six months is not even a near fraction of the time The Godfather has existed
on top the other list. So, of course, there must be a reason for that. After watching this film twice and cringing both times, I know now that there
definitely is a reason for the rapid rise to #1.
In the California underground world of street dancing, Mr. Rad owns and runs
a warehouse type establishment, where each night, street dancing “crews”
get together to battle each other for money and fame in the underground world.
The best crew among the circuit is headed by David (Omari Grandberry) and Elgin
(Marques Houston), who seemingly are invincible when battling other crews. As
well as being best friends for life, David is also in love with Elgin’s
sister, Liyah (Jennifer Freeman), who loves him back.
As the movie progresses, the “invincible” team is challenged by
another crew headed by rich kid Wade (Malcolm David Kelley), for $5000. Of course,
the boys accept the challenge. After acquiring the money by asking Grandma and
doing errands for a local drug dealer, the battle takes place at Mr. Rad’s
place. Unfortunately, Wade’s crew stole their moves and essentially, beat
them, or “served” them (which is where the film’s title comes
from).
Besides being embarrassed terribly, things go pretty well until one night.
While David is out gallivanting with Liyah, Elgin is injured during a job for
the drug dealer, which results in him losing all the “merchandise”
he had on him for the job. At the hospital, Elgin disowns David and tells him
he can’t ever see his sister again. Things get even worse when the drug
dealer comes calling, asking Elgin for his due. He doesn’t have it, but
he almost magically is given time to acquire it back. During that time, he finds
out about a street dancing competition called “The Big Bounce”,
where the payoff for the winner is $50,000.
The plot really doesn’t matter at all in this movie, as it is all about
the dancing. The script is probably only about 30 pages long, as the movie shows
it. From crappy, sometimes preachy dialogue, to otherwise atrocious dialogue,
it is quite clear not much time was taken to make the scenes without dancing
very good. With that, the acting isn’t all that great either. Mr. Rad,
undeniably a character that could have been made great by Steve Harvey, is an
otherwise supplementary character that is basically useless in the end.
As said, the dancing scenes are pretty good. You can evidently see where all
the effort was put in during the production of the film. The dances are all
well choreographed, and are very well captured in the film. Unfortunately, it
isn’t enough to save the movie at all. Elaborate dance sequences and too
many montages making up most of the running time of this 90-minute flick can't
hide it from the terribleness of the overall story and film. If they tried to
make a real movie out of this, and not just a dance movie with cliché-ridden
crap as a backstory just to fill gaps in the running time, it would make for
a much better picture and something to compare to the dance films that have
come before it. But they don’t. Instead, they make one of the worst movies
coming out of Hollywood in a while.
The DVD’s main feature is two Audio Commentaries. Ultimately, they are
just as bad as the film itself. One is from the Director and Cast, which has
lots of talk about certain scenes and characters, how they were done and some
funny moments during the production of those scenes. This is the better of the
two tracks, but is frequented by long silence in many instances. The second
is a “Video and Audio Dance” Commentary, which really seems just
as if a dozen people were around a microphone yelling random thing and laughing
at way too many moments during the film. Of course, this becomes tiresome and
annoying not very long after it starts, and is very bad.
As well, there is a very boring making-of featurette entitled “Serve
it Up”. It comprises of scenes from the film, and cast and crew interviews.
Next up is a “Dance Breakdown” featurette, where the viewer can
cycle through five different camera angles taken of the first scene in the film,
ironically being a dance battle. The last real feature is a 5-minute “Battle
of the Beat” featurette compiled of dance scenes from the two main dance
crews in the film. Also included on the disc is the “Badaboom” Music
Video by B2K, who star in the film, a soundtrack spot and trailers for You
Got Served, Hellboy, 13 Going on 30,
Breakin’ All the Rules (these three are also available
upon the start-up of the disc), 50 First Dates, and S.W.A.T..
There is also a still image promo for the upcoming You Got Served: Take
it to the Streets, coming out next month showing viewers how to dance
similar to those in the film.
Unless you are a big fan of the street dancing that takes place in the film,
there is absolutely no reason to watch or warrant a purchase of this film at
all. The film is just downright awful, and the extras aren’t much better.
A good advisement would be to stay far, far away from this film, no matter what
the cost.
Film Grade: F (D- if you like the dancing)
Features Grade: D+
Final Grade: F (D if you like the dancing)
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