Just when you thought there couldn't possibly be another teen dance competition movie, along comes Work It. Keeping in the same vein as the Bring It On genre, this movie follows Quinn Ackerman and her pursuit of getting into Duke University.
Quinn (Sabrina Carpenter) has done everything right. She has a 4.0 GPA, plays the cello, volunteers in an old people's home, and basically has no life. However, the admissions officer is quite blunt about the fact that everybody applying has the same credentials and nothing sets Quinn apart from them. So Quinn exaggerates her participation in the school dance team, the Thunderbirds, who are reigning champions of the ‘Work It‘ competition. Delighted by this nugget of information, the admissions officer tells her if she likes what she sees at the event, Quinn will get into Duke.
The problem is that Quinn is not part of the dance team. In fact, she can't even dance. So she convinces her best friend Jasmine to leave the Thunderbirds to form their own dance team. Of course, they also need other dancers and choreographer. Off goes Quinn to pull together a makeshift team, who, if they practice hard enough, could actually compete in the competition. Enter Jake Taylor (Jordan Fisher) to train the team and a montage of rehearsals that whip the guys and girls into shape.
Any more of the story and I will spoil it, but suffice to say that this is a feel-good teen romcom so it's fairly predictable. There are a few things that sets Work It apart from other films in this genre. Firstly, the new dance team can actually dance from the get-go, they just need better coaching to bring them up a few levels. So at least we don't have a bunch of hapless saps who suddenly turn into Julliard dancers.
Secondly, Work It is actually very funny. The script isn't as cliched and cringey as most and I was surprised by how many times I laughed out loud – particularly at Liza Koshy who plays Jasmine. The cast works incredibly well together and the relationships come across as very natural and organic. Like Feel The Beat, it's predictable but it moves at a really fast pace, and is a cute, easy watch. There are definitely worse movies out there so if you are looking for something fun and effortless to watch then give Work It a go.
