The main problem with "Stomp the Yard" is that it doesn't stomp enough.
The filmmakers miss a prime opportunity to display black fraternities' practice of "stepping," a combination of marching, dancing, body percussion and gymnastics that shows group unity and precision. The fictional fraternities in "Stomp the Yard" do a fair amount of practicing, but aside from an early display, most of the stepping is buried under a tired plot in which any kind of dance or sporting event could be substituted in the climactic contest.
The film ignores the potential of showing the harmony and teamwork of stepping and focuses on melodrama that wouldn't pass freshman English.
The movie starts with DJ (Columbus Short), his brother, Duron (Chris Brown), and their crew taking part in a street-dance battle in Los Angeles. DJ and his team prove they're the best dancers, but the evening doesn't end well.
DJ travels to Atlanta to make a fresh start. His uncle Nate (Harry Lennix) has helped him get a work-study scholarship to Truth University, a traditional black institution where Nate is grounds supervisor.
DJ isn't sure that college is right for him, but he begins to think it has possibilities after he sees April (Meagan Good), a gorgeous coed.
When he tries to chat her up, he finds that she's dating Grant (Darrin Henson), a law student who's a member of Mu Gamma Xi and a star on the seven-time national champion Mu step team.
One night DJ displays his dance moves at a club, and soon both Mu and Theta Nu Theta try to recruit him. DJ has no interest in joining a fraternity until April urges him to find out what going Greek is really about.
Once he joins, he gets caught up in the fever over nationals but is frustrated when his fresh moves are dismissed in favor of old-school stepping.
The screenplay follows a familiar formula. An outsider comes in, woos the girl and looks like a winner only to have his past dredged up by his enemy, which threatens to dash his dream.
There's even a villain to steal the hero's moves. What a snake! What a clich‚.
Aside from the intro, the story refreshingly avoids gang-type violence. This is higher education, after all, so the baddies do their dirty work with video cameras, computers and rulings.
Director Sylvain White does little to promote college or Greek life.
The two villains are snobs and jerks who equate education with big paychecks. There's a speech about fraternity providing lifetime brotherhood, but DJ points out a deficiency that's never rectified.
Fraternity life isn't made out to be one party after another, but the brief mention of philanthropy is drowned by the cheers of the step-show crowd.
There's some great dancing and stepping in the film, but White, cinematographer Scott Kevan and editor David Checel do their best to disguise it, especially in the opening battle.
Luckily, Short and Good are appealing actors with strong chemistry, so their romance scores some points.
Stepping deserves its time on the big screen.
Too bad "Stomp the Yard" - like "Take the Lead," "Step Up" and "Save the Last Dance" before it - thinks viewers won't be interested unless it gets a hip-hop makeover.
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