I rented this DVD because it had past and future "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" guest stars Eliza Dushku and Claire Kramer. I knew the movie had to do with cheerleaders (duh), but as soon as I listened to what they were actually saying in that hysterical opening cheer, I knew "Bring It On" was not going to be your ordinary T&A exploitation flick. Of course, the producers apparently did not know that since it seems they all showed up with their video cameras the day they shot the car wash scene. Kirsten Dunst plays Torrance Shipman, the new head rah-rah for the Toros, who discovers that all the routines they have been using to win their National Cheerleading Championships have been stolen from another school, the East Compton Clovers, who are led by Gabrielle Union as Isis (both Dunst and Union were cheerleaders in high school). Now we just have to see which cheerleading team is really #1. Meanwhile, Torrance is accused of having "cheer-sex" with Cliff Patone (Jesse Bradford!), a new smart kid in school whose sister Missy (Eliza Dushku) joins the squad because there is no gymnastics team. But in the end it comes down to the final round at Nationals as the two squads try to out do one another in what is essentially a recruiting film for high school cheerleading.
This is a fun movie with its fairly predictable plot and total lack of pretentiousness. With the exception of Missy's big tumbling routine, everyone in the film does their own "stunts." When they do their impromptu routines for a new version of "Mickey" during the closing credits, you have to believe they had big time fun making this movie. "Bring It On" is a movie where you want to get the DVD rather than the videotape because of all the extras included. Not only are there the expected deleted/extended scenes and commentary, there are these informational tidbits that you can get to "pop-up" during the flick. Too bad you cannot get the commentary, sub-titles, and pop ups to all work! at the same time. Nothing like the joys of sensory overload, right, boys and girls? On, and in terms of the "Do Not Do This At Home" Department, it turns out that many of the stunts performed by the teams in the national competition, including all stunts more than 2 bodies high, the fly-overs, and the basket-tosses with head-over-heels rotation, are illegal at the high school level. Yep, that's Hollywood for you.