Show Stoppers DVD Review

Recently, a new style of urban films has taken Hollywood by storm. This style of film centers on the heavily African-American dance style, stomp or stepping. Part tap, part tribal dance and cheerleading, stepping has found enormous success in recent. Stepping is generally performed by dance groups or troupes who utilize their entire bodies as they stomp their feet, slap their bodies and clap their hands to create unique dance rhythms. Hollywood has churned out a barrage of films loosely based around this dance style including Step Up, Stomp the Yard, Step Up 2: The Streets and a large portion of Drumline, to name a few. Now, joining those ranks is the new film Show Stoppers.

Show Stoppers, like so many of the step films, centers around an African-American “step” sorority in Virginia. The step sorority captain Destiny (Faune Chambers, Bring It On Again and Breakin’ All the Rules) has successfully led the team to victory many times over. That is, until she is challenged by fellow sister Pam (Soul Plane and Baby Boy) for lead of the group. Pam’s coup attempt fails. Feeling scorned, Pam quits the group when she is approached by the members of the rival step troupe from the neighboring, very expensive university. The rival group, who are members of a sister chapter of the same sorority, agree to pay her tuition for her to be on their squad.

Pam begins to conspire with her former teammate. She takes the team’s sponsors with her, leaving Destiny’s team high and dry. Things get worse for Destiny when she is informed that the sorority presidents are looking to close one of the chapters, namely the losing chapter, at nationals. Pam also arranges situations to make it seem as if Destiny has been unfaithful to her boyfriend. Eventually the team rallies together and Destiny leads them to victory and reconciles with her boyfriend.

Show Stoppers is another in a long line of sub par story telling that centers on a dance squad. The plot of Show Stoppers is practically non-existent, instead the filmmakers seems to have entered into production with a laissez faire attitude, tossing any suggestion or half-baked idea into the film, which shouldn’t be a surprise when looking at the rest of the film. The production quality is painfully low. It looks as if zero attempt was made to find believable locations or cinematography. The film starts off with three members of the dance squad getting ready. Suddenly a member of the squad runs in, complaining of “bubble guts,” but not before alerting them that their rivals were stomping on their turf. Cut to the four girls from the restroom, plus one more, exiting, in completely different, matching costumes. They have a “stomp” off with the rival squad and are apparently victorious, but only because they state that they are. The rest of the film is just as prosaic. It is an unimaginative plot, peppered with anti-climatic dance sequences.

Show Stoppers is presented in Widescreen and features a 5.1 surround sound track.