Drumline: A New Beat (2014)

To say Drumline: A New Beat was predictable is, well, predictable. The female lead goes from an ultra successful, intelligent, self assured but pampered high school senior inundated with full academic scholarships from top universities to lack-luster, insecure college freshman whose only goal, only passion is to play in a marching band at so-so college as a P1 drummer in the center of the front line. And throughout the movie there is little if any, mention of anything to do with actual day to day requirements and the reason for attending college....(classes, grades, studying and earning a degree) just high school like drama of being in the marching band. The college, A&T, while never mention in the film as such, appears to be an HBCU (Historically Black College and Universities) as the only white -or Asian, Hispanic- people are seen in the background and only briefly. Additionally, the fictional A&T marching band is reminiscent of Florida A&M University's marching band that was disbanded and several members were prosecuted for the death of Robert Champion, one of it's members as a direct result of hazing. I won't go into how many stereo-types were displayed throughout the movie (gold chains, black males calling black women "bi!ch", chocolate used to describe black skinned men being black). Finally, when all is said and done, this is still just a movie about high school "band geeks" that are now college "band geeks". A movie where they try to equate the demands, rigors and competition of playing in a college marching band to those of playing a college level sport be it football, wrestling, basketball or swimming. In this regard, they failed.

The original Drumline was a surprising little gem, given its existence was mainly to propel Nick Cannon's career forward. The film was a touching film that showcased exceptional marching band choreography alongside a main character whose actions and faults were because of the choices he made rather than justified by the things he lacked, such as a father figure and a stable homelife. Given its pretty thin plot and foreseeable turnout, the film made arriving to that end conclusion fun, all thanks to writing that went above and beyond.On the other hand, Drumline: A New Beat shows exactly the kind of film the original Drumline could've been if it was written without the themes and wit that made it a film to resonate and embrace. Caught up in a series of vague internet articles about the potential its creation and release - and whether or not its original star Nick Cannon would even be a part of it - before finally arriving twelve years after its predecessor, the film is a perfunctory mess of proportions that are unfortunately expected given its relatively low-key release on basic cable, with that specific channel being VH1 nonetheless.The film revolves around Dani Bolton (Alexandria Shipp), an well-off girl from Brooklyn, who goes against her parents by attending Atlanta A&T University and playing in the school's renowned marching band over going to medical school. As a result, she's cut off in terms of finances and has to resort to getting a job, which is a big deal in the first half of the film but a nonexistent issue in the second half. Moreover, Dani's participation in the A&T drumline warrants her becoming one of the few female members of the drumline and the first female section leader, much to the dismay of the upperclassmen drummers; even her cousin Tyree (Jeff Pierre) finds his little cousin a threat and a potential distraction to the band.This causes trouble for marching band coach Sean Taylor (Leonard Roberts), who struggles to maintain any kind of control of his marching bad amidst conflicts of interest between the marching band members. At one point, when the team turns violent against a competing team, he brings in Devon Miles (Nick Cannon), the now rich and famous percussionist whose roots began at A&T, for a pep-talk in the film's most entertaining scene.The word for Drumline: A New Beat is incredibly perfunctory, as it feels like it is simply cycling through necessary emotions and plot points in order to move from point A to B in the simplest manner. Not to mention, the film has an usually brisk pace to its narrative. At the fifteen minute mark in the film, we are already watching Dani run into her first conflicts within the drumline at college, after watching her graduate, fight with her parents, arrive at college, meet her roommate and her friends, and get acquainted with the drumline in the previous minutes. The film moves unusually quickly, and tries to tackle far too many bases on emotional, conflicting, and relationship levels, including a terribly corny relationship between Dani and Jayven (Jordan Calloway), a fellow drummer.Even the choreography in the film is decidedly-lesser than the original film, maintaining a level of interchangeability when the first film not only remained entertaining in the structure of its percussion numbers but its editing. Drumline: A New Beat's highest point in terms of musical performance and choreography is when the A&T marching band performs an infectious version of The Gap Band's "You Dropped a Bomb on Me," but even then, it's too late for the film to reach any level of buoyancy after the abundance of monotony we have seen.Drumline: A New Beat's coffin-sealing nail comes in the form of how desperate of an attempt this feels at garnering momentary views and generating some sort of social media buzz. Throughout the film's premiere on VH1, incessant adds pop up urging fans to visit VH1's website to further promote or endorse the film, "#Drumline" appears in the corner of the screen for the entire film, and even the characters in the film feel like simplistic millennial archetypes, taking selfies at random times and playing on their phones throughout the film, as if they are their parents trying to remain relevant. The film feels like nothing more than a shot fired from a flare gun, attempting to make some sort of noise, if momentary, just to try and catch your attention. You have a choice as a consumer and a viewer; you can either give it unnecessary, unwarranted attention, or give your undivided attention to one of the many winning films in your local multiplex this awards season. The decision, as always, is up to you.Starring: Alexandra Shipp, Leonard Roberts, Jordan Calloway, Jeff Pierre, Lisa Arrindell Anderson, and Mario Van Peebles. Directed by: Bille Woodruff.

So many amazing action and drama packed scenes, and the acting was beyond perfect. The movie teaches that you have to follow your dreams no matter what other people will think about you. "Drumline: A New Beat" was something amazing and I hope they'll make a 3rd movie sometime soon. Hopefully the future generations will get a chance to see this movie and understand that no matter what you do, you cannot give up if that's what you want to reach. Alexandra Shipp nailed it with her amazing acting skills as well as the fellow cast stars like Jordan Calloway, LeToya Luckett, Jasmine Burke, Nick Cannon etc. I really enjoyed watching this movie.

I enjoyed the first movie and was excited to see they created a new one along the same lines, but was disappointed after watching it. I had hoped for some originality but it seems they just replaced the Devon character with a girl who does the same things that got him in trouble and acts out during performances. I also don't understand why they couldn't use scenes of the band actually playing the music instead of playing some soundtrack over their movements that didn't mesh with what they were doing. As someone who marched in marching band and drum corps, it was distracting to say the least that the music and the action didn't match. I would have expected better from a movie about marching.