Writer: Alyson Fouse
Cast: Hayden Panettiere, Solange Knowles, Gus Carr, Francia Raisa, Marcy Rylan, Cindy Chiu, Giovonnie Samuels,
Genre: Teen, Comedy, Sport
In the third round for the franchise, they have brought in former cheerleader Hayden Panettiere in the lead as the rich girl head cheerleader moving to poor neighborhood losing contact with the world she once knew. No-one had yet to whisper the immortal "Save the cheerleader, save the world" in the huge TV success "Heroes" which should become Hayden's big break, but Hayden brings her A-game to this movie which launched the same year as her second persona cheerleader superhero would rocket her to the A-list in Hollywood.
Much like with Kristen Dunst in the original, I've never denied enjoying Hayden as well. Even weak ass movies like I Love You, Beth Cooper gets bearable with her sweet and charming persona involved, but this movie isn't anything close to that. Hayden's got indisputable talent, and she bring every bit of it into her 'Britney Allen' character. She comes across believable as everything from the rich girl without a clue, the head cheerleader with ambition for her squad, and as the girl with as much attitude as talent and skills. Especially her attitude is so important. She really capture the essence of what is needed to make 'Britney Allen' a girl we would bother to care about at all.
There's also the help she gets, much like the original as well, were the second movie in the franchise went wrong. Along Hayden, there's also great performances from several of the actresses on both cheer-leading squads involved in her life. None of them especially well known then, and still I guess the most known is Francia Raisa from the TV show now in its third season, The Secret Life of the American Teenager. Still, Danielle Savre, Solange Knowles, Jessica Nicole Fife and the rest brings chemistry and life to the characters in a way teenage movies often lack. We also get to have some cameos helping a lot, especially from superstar RnB artist Rihanna.
I have some minor points to deduct from the choices made by writers and director, so there's is still room for improvement. I think they should have spent a little more time showing off the cheering, especially as Hayden got game. The final cheering scene should have been a little longer, despite being a highlight as it was. There's also some scenes getting a little to cliched and color-focused. I know it's a major and important part of the movie, but it could still have been a little better polished. I mention these things because of what is to come, and announce there's room for improvement and perfection also in these kind of movies.
Because I'm about to state the fact I reward this with an eight. I think it's a superb teen movie, by far the best cheer-leading movie even being the third in the franchise that is Bring It On and it's got a superstar lead performance from a girl who's later become the superstar she showed proof of having the talent to become. It's a multilayer-ed lead-character learning about her self, about life, about friendship and love, and she evolves from the girl giving us cheap laughs in the beginning.
"Damn... vanilla latte's got skills."
Yes, she do and so does the writers of the script. they have come very close to deliver a knock-out of an youth movie. Even the music manage to step it up from the original, while still giving some time to the young punk-pop artist Avril Lavigne who also featured in the soundtrack back then in the beginning of her career. I could keep praising this movie, and somehow I feel like I got to because I rate it so high despite the genre, despite the cliches and despite every part of the movie we could predict three minutes into it. I laughed, I enjoyed the build ups, I complimented the story for myself and while I did noticed the flaws, I do believe I think this is one of the best youth movies ever made for light entertainment purposes.
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