So how does the guy who made Planet B-Boy put out such an insulting,
formulaic Step Up knock-off like Battle of the Year? Dance battle
movies by definition should be simple and easy to follow, but they shouldn't
all look alike or have the same texture. A film steeped in the streetwise
hip-hop culture should have an edge, but 'BOTY' is safer and softer than
Drake's last album.Lee bases the story on a very real challenge that breakdancing is facing, that of its diminishing influence here in America while it grows in popularity elsewhere in the world. Laz Alonso plays Dante, a Sean Combs-esque entrepreneur who sees that hip-hop is no longer considered "cool" here, and that the U.S. has lost its place as the B-boy innovators. Plus he needs to sell more gear and the only way to do that is if the U.S. is back at the top of the B-boying landscape. So he hires his former crewmate Jason (Josh Holloway), an alcoholic ex-basketball coach to lead the team to the Battle of the Year championships. Jason, known as "Wonder Bread" back in his pop 'n lock days, throws out the rulebook and forms his Dream Team from the country's finest, and most arrogant, dancers.
What follows is like "B-boy Survivor" meets Remember the
Titans as the volatile crew of hot-heads must learn to become a team in
the matter of weeks, with one member getting "voted off the island"
each week. Helping out in this edition of "Breakin' Idol" is Franklyn
(Josh Peck), who says he's too Jewish to be a B-boy. His rhythm disappeared at
the circumcision, he says. In what will come as a shock to everyone, Chris
Brown plays Rooster, the most selfish dancer of all. There are others from all
different walks of life, making for a testosterone-fueled powder keg. There's a
gay dancer who draws the ire of a combat veteran, while one guy basically lives
in poverty. There are numerous squabbles and threats of violence, all of which
are eventually squashed in the simplest fashion, or explained away by using
Kobe and Shaq's rivalry as an example. Did Kobe threaten to kill Shaq at any
point? Not so sure about that.
Holloway, looking more like Sawyer than he did when Lost was
actually on the air, speaks in nothing but clichés ("There is no
"I" in team!") and tired old sports speeches. Since nobody is
going to confuse Holloway for Boogaloo Shrimp (go ahead and look him up),
we never see him dance even a little. Instead he runs the team through standard
sports drills while montages highlight their growing cohesion as a team.
Holloway isn't the only one burdened with terrible dialogue, the script overall
is laughably atrocious and the performances don't fare much better. Lee pats
himself on the back frequently by having characters reference just how awesome Planet
B-Boy was. It comes up so often one wonders if he gets a royalty check each
time. 
Lee is more comfortable once the action takes to the actual competition, and
he can focus on the spectacular, electrifying moves by a number of legit dance
crews hailing from Germany, South Korea, China, and France. The cast includes a
solid number of real breakers, and if Brown can do anything it's breakdance
with the best of them, so there's no slide in quality when the American team
takes the floor. Lee captures every backflip and headspin beautifully,
and some truly inventive choreography allows for a brilliant combination of
dance styles. The final half of the film captures the essence of what a
B-boying movie should be; it's just
unfortunate that everything else is so weak and uninspiring.
