Breakin' 2

Let's get one thing straight......If you haven't lived the Hip-Hop lifestyle, you cannot properly judge this movie in ANY negative manner. I was a teenager in the mid 80's and danced (electric boogie) in the streets and roller rinks of NY for 4+ years. I went to LA when I was 16 and battled other dancers on Venice Beach, which was the MECCA of electric boogie street dancers.

This movie was the best of it's kind!! Michael "Boogaloo Shrimp" Chambers was arguably the best in the craft and shined in both this movie and it's predecessor. Don't view this movie looking for a wealth of incredible acting, but do watch it for some amazing street dancing and a very likeable cast with a good storyline. I LOVED this movie and still do. Every time I see it, I'm transported from my office back to my carefree teenage years, where my biggest problems were what to wear when dancing and what music I was going to boogie to!

I'm popping and throwing waves as I write............

Let me start by acknowledging that Breakin 2 (the sequel to 1984's Breakin, which was a box office hit) IS NOT a great movie. The acting is weak, the plot very "Andy Hardy," and the dialog, well let just say, it wouldn't have been any better if Golan/Globus would have gotten Denzel Washington and Meryl Streep to star in this film. That being said, let me now state that Breakin 2 IS NOT a "bad movie" either. It is what it is, mindless entertainment. The dancing, while not as riveting as it's predecessor, is enjoyable. The clothes (remember this is the 80's), well they're a laugh in themselves. The cast are all attractive (Lucinda Dickey looks hot as hell in this one, and check out Sonny Bono's sexy ex-wife Susie Coelho playing Kelly's rival).

The thinly written plot of Breakin 2: Electric Boogaloo takes up where Breakin left off. Kelly (Dickey), Ozone (Aldolfo "Shabba Doo" Quinones) and Turbo (the phenomenal Michael "Boogalo Shrimp" Chambers have finished up what appears to have been a short run of their musical "Street People." Having gone their separate ways, Kelly is finding life in the chorus line a dead end. Unlike Ozone and Turbo, Kelly is not a product of the streets, and must also deal with her stereotypically written "rich parents," who want her to stop wasting her life dancing and go to Princeton. Needing a break from the lifestyle of the rich and famous, she goes to visit her "boyz in the hood" buds Ozone and Turbo, who seem to have found a better niche in life, teaching kids at a community center in East Los Angeles.

Enter bad guy real estate developer Mr. Douglas (character actor Peter MacLean), who wants to buy the land where the rec center sits and build a shopping mall. Kelly rejoins her ghetto comrades to stand against Douglas, and the city, who holds the lease on the building. The city does gives the trio one month to raise $150,000 to get the old center up to building standards or lose it to Douglas. How will they do it? How else, by putting on a street carnival (I told you this wasn't Pulp Fiction). Sub-plots include Kelly's racist parent attempting to bribe her by offering to bail out the center(only if she denounces her street friends and goes to college), and Kelly and Ozone's phantom romance (they never seriously kiss or get romantic in either film, which was the norm for interracial affairs in the 80's).

As stated earlier, where this movie shines is in the dancing. Ozone's rooftop number and Turbo's dancing on the ceiling are very enjoyable. The soundtrack wasn't as ripping as the original, but it's listenable without being annoying. The one other redeemable trait of Breakin 2, is it's attempt (no matter how lame an attempt) to portray a part of American culture that few people outside of major cities such as Los Angeles and New York knew anything about. In the eighties, you could count the number of minority themed films on one hand, so given it's very low budget, Breakin 2 at least served up a decent laugh and some head bobbin "make you smile" hoofin'.

Bottom line, if you're looking for Academy Award performances, solid acting, excellent writing and a thought provoking storyline, AVOID THIS FILM. However, if you want a look (albeit a somewhat watered down, white bread look) at a phenomenal eighties American fad called Break Dancing, check it out and enjoy the music and the dancing. That's all Golan/Globus was trying to make, and that's all this movie has to offer.

Rich girl Kelly Bennett is now a chorus dancer after the close of Street Jazz. She and Ozone are together and his ex Rhonda is jealous. Turbo falls for Latina dancer Lucia. Ozone and Turbo are teaching street dancing to the kids. Byron runs local community center Miracles where they hang out. Developer Douglas is trying to tear it down and build a shopping center. Sleazy minion Randall pushes the local government to tear it down. The dance trio defeats the Electros in a dance off. The community has to battle the developer to save their Miracles.

I don't remember Kelly having a rich family in the first movie. I guess it's possible that she was being independent working in that diner. It looks more like a manufactured class conflict between Kelly and her street life. This time around, the movie is asking more acting from the group and it's met with varying results. Kelly and Ozone have no real romantic chemistry. It double-downs on the first movie's little crush and the actors struggle to have any heat. It's cute to have love sick Turbo and he has one of the best upside down dance sequences ever. They recreate that shack so well that it's almost a perfect transition between the real world shack and the rotating one. The only truly awkward transition happens when Lucia walks into the room. She's stuck to the wall when Turbo is dancing upside down. This sequel is a cheesier effort highlighted by that one awesome dance sequence and a sequel title for the history books. Ice-T does return to do more rapping.

When the movie "Breakin'" came out the whole trend of breakdancing was everywhere. It was absolutely huge. So obviously they needed to make a sequel but this time to focus on breakdancing's little brother, Electric Boogaloo. And a meme was born. And I mean that literally. Electric Boogaloo became the standard response to whenever a movie was coming out with a sequel for decades to come.

Batman Returns? No, people called it "Batman 2: Electric Boogaloo". Terminator 2? Of course not. It was "Terminator 2: Electric Boogaloo". It's so popular a saying that even 35 years later people are still making this comment whenever a new sequel is coming out. Usually it is reserved for movies that are less popular or people wonder why they're making a sequel but occasionally you get a wag that didn't get the memo.

The story itself is pretty standard fare. The main characters are back. Kelly is now dancing in some chorus line somewhere and wanting to go to France. While Ozone and Turbo are heading up a youth center called "Miracles". But along comes an evil developer that wants to put up a shopping mall where Miracles is. So the only way to save it is to put on a show, raise a lot of money and make sure that the mortgage on it is paid and that Miracles stays where it is. This is a plot device that I seem to recall being used by the Lil Rascals back in the day. And I mean the actual B&W series from the 30's.

This is cut with scenes of what Shabba-Doo a.k.a Ozone and Boogaloo Shrimp a.k.a Turbo do best which is dance. And let me tell you, this is something they are able to do. When it comes to their acting? Not so much.

To call the plot contrived and the actors not being able to act is like calling a duck a duck. They're not actors, they're dancers and that's what you came to see.

The movie itself is pretty bad but as I said, if you're seeing this for any other reason than either you love bad movies or want to see them dance then you're here for all the wrong reasons.

If for no other reason, watch the film to see poor Ice-T delivering what may be the most badly written rap lyrics of all time! This is an unintentionally very funny film. Funnier if you were a teenager in the 80's, because you remember it all. The kids do dance well. The 'gang members' are so un-menacing, it's just precious. The dance number in the hospital is breathtakingly ridiculous. Have Fun!