Blu-rays, DVDs & more
eBay affliate link
Art of the Movies
Buy posters on MoviePoster.com
IMDb
Stomp the Yard movie stills
Reviews provided by RottenTomatoes
Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: The results are corny beyond measure. Yet there's something sweet about them. Read more
Rachel Saltz, New York Times: Stomp the Yard is a strange and at times strangely compelling mix of black fraternity recruitment video and inspirational tale about a hip-hop boy in a stepping world. Read more
J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: The movie ends with a generic exhortative quote from Martin Luther King Jr., who probably wasn't talking about synchronized dancing. Read more
Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: The moves can be remarkable, though ritually repetitive -- male chorus lines of adrenalized automata acting out anger, menace, pride, audacity or joy. Read more
Tom Keogh, Seattle Times: Typical of dance movies, there's a bit of story to fill the gaps between energetic sessions of movement. Director Sylvain White captures loads of feverish step action with stylishly jittery camerawork, muted colors and claustrophobic framing. Read more
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: The film introduces too many elements, doubles back on itself, repeats and repeats the same information, starts and stops, includes needless tangential riffs, finds artificial means to stretch the running length and is in every way a flabby mess. Read more
Bob Townsend, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: As expected, there's a final contest that resolves a whole mess of conflicts. But before that, Stomp the Yard flirts with several silly soap opera subplots while twisting its way around to a cursory touch of social consciousness. Read more
Tasha Robinson, AV Club: Hollywood has a few well-rutted stories it likes to tell over and over, and Stomp The Yard includes at least five of them. Read more
Annemarie Moody, Arizona Republic: If you're looking for a dance movie with heart, Stomp the Yard is the ticket. Read more
Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: [Columbus] Short, another pop choreographer, sounds like Vin Diesel, but he moves like a bee. When he dances, he makes sure every girl in the theater goes home stung. Read more
Michael Ordona, Los Angeles Times: There's athleticism and frenetic artistry here, but the film's attempts to make busting moves seem dramatic are about as effective as the hilarious chess-piece slamming in Searching for Bobby Fisher. Read more
Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post: The film's makers get just how rich, even ecstatic, these subcultures of movement can be. It's aggravating then, to see how easily they trip up that vitality with uninspired storytelling. Read more
Tom Long, Detroit News: Stomp the Yard panders to every cheap expectation. Actually, director Sylvain White goes a bit cheaper than his immediate predecessors, drawing out the low booty shots for giggle and jiggle effect. Read more
Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: The shallow frat-on-frat rivalry and the poor-boy-loves-rich-girl subplot don't mean a thing. But the stepping does got that swing. Read more
John Monaghan, Detroit Free Press: Are the dancers at least amazing? It's hard to say because novice director Sylvain White never gives us a decent look at them. It's hard to see much when shots are delivered like lightning flashes. Read more
Scott Foundas, L.A. Weekly: Short has charisma, charm and athleticism to burn, but it's mostly for naught. Read more
Connie Ogle, Miami Herald: It's impossible not to warm up to [actor Colubmus] Short's quiet intensity, and you can't beat the ferocious performance battle that rocks the stage in the film's final showdown. Don't be surprised if you leave the theater stomping your feet. Read more
John Anderson, Newsday: Fairly ludicrous, utterly predictable chest-beater about a black university obsessed with step-dancing, Greek letter life and romance. Read more
Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: The cast adds little. Columbus Short, a dancer-turned-actor, can move well, but he mugs too much for the camera when he's supposed to be having fun, and barely holds the screen when he's not. Read more
Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: What we get is scene after scene of exhilarating routines, all leading up to the big finale. And with two furiously intense teams ready to dance each other off the stage, it's an absolute winner. Read more
Kyle Smith, New York Post: The movie starts with furious team dance-offs, but these aren't as interesting as they should be. Camera trickery keeps slowing down or speeding up everyone's movements, which destroys the amazement factor raised by the documentary Rize. Read more
Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: The script, based on an earlier screenplay by a Florida A&M alum, accomplishes little -- it's basically Drumline, with dancing instead of drum corps. Read more
Mary Houlihan, Chicago Sun-Times: A nod must be given to choreographer Dave Scott, who skillfully blends the dance styles into an explosive whole. Seeing Stomp the Yard for these bits alone is well worth it. Read more
Christy Lemire, Associated Press: The rhythmic step dancing is infectious in the otherwise formulaic underdog flick Stomp the Yard -- so much so, you'll want to see more of it and less of a plot. Read more
Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail: The plot is stale though some of the moves are fresh in Stomp the Yard, a Flashdance-like fable about a kid from the wrong side of the tracks who brings his street-wise gangster style to the world of competitive fraternity step dancing. Read more
Susan Walker, Toronto Star: Perhaps director Sylvain White hoped that this laughably melodramatic film might find its way into the pantheon of urban dance films. But seen against such films as Rize and You Got Served, it's a step in the wrong direction. Read more
Claudia Puig, USA Today: Director Sylvain White goes by the book, except in the early scenes where he gives new meaning to the concept of a shaky camera. Initially, the camera work is so frenetic as to be off-putting and dizzying. Read more
Justin Chang, Variety: The dancing is more dynamic than the plotting in Stomp the Yard, an energetic if formulaic underdog tale. Read more
Stephen Hunter, Washington Post: If you've never seen [stepping], it's quite a show, and Stomp the Yard throws well-deserved light on this somewhat under-the-radar phenomenon. Read more