''Beat the World'' (also known as ''You Got Served: Beat the World'') is a 2011 Canadian
dance film
A dance film (also known as screen dance) is a film in which dance is used to reveal the central themes of the film, whether these themes be connected to narrative or story, states of being, or more experimental and formal concerns. In such films, ...
written and directed by
Robert Adetuyi
Robert Adetuyi is a Canadian screenwriter and film director who works in Hollywood. Born in Sudbury, Ontario,"Interview with Robert Adetuyi", ''Sudbury Star'', January 24, 2007. Adetuyi is a graduate of York University, where he studied communicati ...
. It is a loose sequel to the American film ''
You Got Served
''You Got Served'' is a 2004 American dance drama film written and directed by Chris Stokes, who was also the business manager of the performers who were the film's main characters: recording artist Marques Houston and the boy band B2K. The plo ...
'' (2004). It was produced by InnerCity Films and Telefilm Canada - Equity Investment Program. The film stars Tyrone Brown,
Mishael Morgan
Marie-Charms Mishael Morgan (born July 15, 1986) known professionally as Mishael Morgan, is a Trinidadian-Canadian actress known for the roles of Hilary Curtis and Amanda Sinclair on CBS Daytime soap opera, ''The Young and the Restless'', the lat ...
, Nikki Grant, Kristy Flores Christian Mio Loclair and
Parkour artist Chase Armitage. The plot involves three dance crews from around the world preparing to do battle at the international Beat the World competition in Detroit, Michigan.
In the United States, the film was released straight-to-video on June 21, 2011 by Sony Home Entertainment, but it did receive a theatrical release in international territories, grossing a total of $933,540.
Premise
Three dance crews prepare to do battle at the international Beat the World competition in Detroit. During the final showdown to become world champions, lifelong hopes, dreams and even lives, are at stake.
Cast
Soundtrack
The original soundtrack was produced by
Frank Fitzpatrick and released on Hip Hop Connect, an independent label and production company specializing in socially conscious rap, hip hop and film soundtracks.
*
KRS-One
*
K'Naan
Keinan Abdi Warsame (born 1 February 1978) ( so, Keynaan Cabdi Warsame, ar, كَينَان عَبدِ وَرسَمَ ''Kaynān ʿAbdi Warsama''), better known by his stage name K'naan (), is a Somali Canadians, Somali-Canadian musician. He ...
*
Ziggy Marley
David Nesta "Ziggy" Marley (born 17 October 1968) is a Jamaican singer, songwriter, musician, actor and philanthropist. He is the son of reggae icon Bob Marley and Rita Marley. He led the family band Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers until 20 ...
*
Nneka
*
Les Nubians
Les Nubians is a French musical duo, composed of sisters Hélène and Célia Faussart from Paris, France. In 1985, the sisters moved with their parents to Chad. Seven years later, they returned to Bordeaux, France, and began singing a cappella, p ...
*
MV Bill
*
Talib Kweli
Talib Kweli Greene (; born October 3, 1975) is an American rapper. He earned recognition early on through his collaboration with fellow Brooklyn rapper Mos Def in 1997, when they formed the group Black Star. Kweli's musical career continued with ...
*
Sway
*
Lina
A portion of the proceeds were donated to the Debbie Allen Dance Academy through EarthTones.
Release
In the United States, the film was released directly to
DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
and
Blu-ray
The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of st ...
on June 21, 2011. The theatrical release for the film occurred overseas.
Reception
On
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
the film has a 0% rating based on reviews from 5 critics, with an average critic score of 3.4/10.
Paula Citron of
The Globe and Mail
''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...
found the film to be predictable and the dance sequences to be over-edited, commenting: "... if the audience is not there for the story - which is clearly just a hat to hang the dance on - they must be there for the dance. Unfortunately, because Adetuyi's film is actually one very long music video, the dance portions are shot in 30-second bites, so one never gets a sense of an entire routine. All we get is fast-cut teasers."
In his review for
NOW Toronto
''Now'' (styled as ''NOW''), also known as ''NOW Magazine'' is an online publication based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Throughout most of its existence, ''Now'' was a free alternative weekly newspaper. Physical publication of ''Now'' was suspen ...
, Norman Wilner criticised the acting skills of the accomplished dancers and found the plot to be hackneyed, concluding:" ... It's all just atrociously acted filler between the dance sequences, which Adetuyi shoots so haphazardly that it's impossible to appreciate the artists or choreography."
Bruce DeMara, reviewing for the
Toronto Star
The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and pa ...
found the plot, dialogue and theme of beating the world to be clichéd. He praised the dance performances but criticised their editing. He concluded:
" ... there are a couple of decent performances that shine through, notably Brown as Yuson and Ray Johnson as his friend, Easy, both of whom have solid onscreen presence but need a better film to demonstrate it in. Adetuyi has the makings of a decent filmmaker. He just needs to stick to the basics: believable dialogue and characters and a storyline that takes a few chances."
References
External links
*
{{Robert Adetuyi
2011 films
English-language Canadian films
2010s English-language films
American dance films
Canadian musical drama films
Hip hop dance
2010s hip hop films
2010s musical drama films
American musical drama films
Films directed by Robert Adetuyi
Films scored by Andrew Lockington
2011 drama films
Sony Pictures direct-to-video films
2010s American films
2010s Canadian films