When I first saw the preview for this one, I found myself hoping against hope that the family that brought us I'm Gonna Get You, Sucka and In Living Color would step up to offer us a funny movie after White Chicks and Little Man. Honestly, I never bothered to watch those films, as the trailers were so screamingly unfunny to me.
And now I find myself horrified at the average rating of 3.3 out of ten on IMDb(as of opening weekend) for Dance Flick, which I consider a loooong awaited return to form for Keenan Ivory Wayans, and a revelation of the rebirth of that satirical spark from the earliest days of In Living Color. In fact, Dance Flick even tops all modern attempts at satire by Zucker proteges Friedberg and Seltzer (Disaster Movie,Meet the Spartans, Epic Movie, Date Movie) and even David Zucker himself (though, curiously, it seemed to me that Shawn and Marlon Wayans were in his orbit for an over decade long meltdown, including his involvement in the Scary Movie series and, finally, last year's unfunny and politically confused An American Carol).
Here's reason # 1 why Dance Flick tops it: it shows every sign that it was made by adults who actually watched the movies they're lampooning in their entireity (Gasp! Imagine that!). It's not surprising to me that a number of the more negative reviews on here ignore jokes based on movies like Little Miss Sunshine or Twilight, since those gags seemed to have been written by people who sat and watched more than the trailers for those films.
Reason #2: A good cast given a chance to shine. David Alan Grier's Showgirls parody was a great use of DAG's singing talents. Yes, he had to act through a fat suit for most of this film (ala Martin Lawrence and Eddie Murphy), but his performance so made up for his participation in Zucker's Carol.
Essence Atkins is hilarious as Charity, the student mom who hangs her baby carrier up in her locker, baby intact, telling the waif to "breathe through the vents."
Shoshanna Bush plays Megan White, who makes a bizarre choice for her Julliard audition, and whose mom seems on the edge of a "tragic" fate (in one of the funnier sequences in the film).
Damon Wayans, Jr., however, is a revelation as a chip off a really funny block. He plays Thomas Uncles (if you can't sit well with that joke, please go rent I'm Gonna Get You Sucka and then we'll talk), a young dancer in a street crew who's also a starry-eyed med school hopeful in what's described as a "Cosby sweater." Damon Jr. shows acting and humor chops equal to any in the previous generation of Wayans, and hopefully gets the chance to work on something at least this funny again.
Reason # 3: The director. Damien Dante Wayans demonstrates the difference between throwing a grab bag of lame material at the screen versus an attempt at layers of jokes.
Reason # 4: Continuity. This film, finally, feels like a product produced by people responsible for Hollywood Shuffle and I'm Gonna Get You Sucka. I'd gladly watch this film again, right alongside the previous two. Each of the films take out the satirical knives to point out the silliness inherent in a lot of pop cinema, but with affection.
Reason # 5: The jokes are funny. The movie is chock-a-block with well-timed gags, right down to the set decoration and costuming. Yes, there is evidence of jokes about Hairspray and Ray that are barely used, and the film is far from perfect. But the difference is in the funny. This is, and is so worth your time.
And now I find myself horrified at the average rating of 3.3 out of ten on IMDb(as of opening weekend) for Dance Flick, which I consider a loooong awaited return to form for Keenan Ivory Wayans, and a revelation of the rebirth of that satirical spark from the earliest days of In Living Color. In fact, Dance Flick even tops all modern attempts at satire by Zucker proteges Friedberg and Seltzer (Disaster Movie,Meet the Spartans, Epic Movie, Date Movie) and even David Zucker himself (though, curiously, it seemed to me that Shawn and Marlon Wayans were in his orbit for an over decade long meltdown, including his involvement in the Scary Movie series and, finally, last year's unfunny and politically confused An American Carol).
Here's reason # 1 why Dance Flick tops it: it shows every sign that it was made by adults who actually watched the movies they're lampooning in their entireity (Gasp! Imagine that!). It's not surprising to me that a number of the more negative reviews on here ignore jokes based on movies like Little Miss Sunshine or Twilight, since those gags seemed to have been written by people who sat and watched more than the trailers for those films.
Reason #2: A good cast given a chance to shine. David Alan Grier's Showgirls parody was a great use of DAG's singing talents. Yes, he had to act through a fat suit for most of this film (ala Martin Lawrence and Eddie Murphy), but his performance so made up for his participation in Zucker's Carol.
Essence Atkins is hilarious as Charity, the student mom who hangs her baby carrier up in her locker, baby intact, telling the waif to "breathe through the vents."
Shoshanna Bush plays Megan White, who makes a bizarre choice for her Julliard audition, and whose mom seems on the edge of a "tragic" fate (in one of the funnier sequences in the film).
Damon Wayans, Jr., however, is a revelation as a chip off a really funny block. He plays Thomas Uncles (if you can't sit well with that joke, please go rent I'm Gonna Get You Sucka and then we'll talk), a young dancer in a street crew who's also a starry-eyed med school hopeful in what's described as a "Cosby sweater." Damon Jr. shows acting and humor chops equal to any in the previous generation of Wayans, and hopefully gets the chance to work on something at least this funny again.
Reason # 3: The director. Damien Dante Wayans demonstrates the difference between throwing a grab bag of lame material at the screen versus an attempt at layers of jokes.
Reason # 4: Continuity. This film, finally, feels like a product produced by people responsible for Hollywood Shuffle and I'm Gonna Get You Sucka. I'd gladly watch this film again, right alongside the previous two. Each of the films take out the satirical knives to point out the silliness inherent in a lot of pop cinema, but with affection.
Reason # 5: The jokes are funny. The movie is chock-a-block with well-timed gags, right down to the set decoration and costuming. Yes, there is evidence of jokes about Hairspray and Ray that are barely used, and the film is far from perfect. But the difference is in the funny. This is, and is so worth your time.