About.com Rating

The Bottom Line

Planet B-Boy presents the best of breakdancing, an amazingly athletic dance form that originated New York and has swept the globe. B-Boying is an underground culture, a way of life, a means of self-expression that centers around perfecting personal dance style and moves, and in-synch team choreography.

Director Benson Lee captures the soul of B-Boying as he follows top-ranked crews from Las Vegas, Osaka, Seoul and rural France to the high-voltage "Battle of The Year" in Braunschweig, Germany.

The B-Boys' stories, big personalities, huge attitude and astonishing skills will amaze and entertain you.



Pros

• A brilliantly entertaining film about breakdancing at its best.
• Inspired breakdancers from around the globe give their all in competitive performances.
• B-Boying is a subculture that circles the globe--we get to see the world's best crews.
• Shows how dance transforms lives and how battling to be best need not be violent.
• An intimate look at how b-boys battle for acceptance of their art and lifestyle.

Cons

• After seeing these kids dance, you may feel like a clumsy oaf. Get to the gym!

Description

• Crews from different countries show unique styles, blending strength, power, flow, finesse and intricacy of movement.
• After presenting choreographed numbers, the crews confront each other with dazzling displays of improvised moves.
• B-Boy skills include lightening-fast footwork, turbo-charged spins, freezes in balance-challenging poses and team work.
• The French crew, Phase T, seems seductively lyrical compared to Japan's Ichigeki's energetic staccato moves.

• Korea has two crews in the finals: Gamblerz, last year's champs, and Last For One, an innovative new crew.
• It's fascinating that the age-old enmity between Korea and Japan factors into the battle between Korean and Japanese B-Boys.
• The soundtrack is terrific! You won't be able to sit still while watching and will have a bounce in your step afterwards.

Guide Review - Planet B-Boy (2007)

This film is great entertainment backed with profound social and cultural insight.

B-Boying or breakdancing, the hip hop dance form that originated on the streets of NY's South Bronx, burst into the cultural mainstream during the 1980s and, like many pop crazes, quickly faded from fad status. But, as director Benson Lee shows us in his remarkable Planet B-Boy, the art form didn't disappear--it returned to it's underground roots, and swept the globe.

Today, brilliantly talented, extremely dedicated young dancers represent dozens of countries with diverse mainstream cultures in annual competitions or 'battles.'

Planet B-Boy follows five crews--from Las Vegas, Osaka, Seoul and rural France--into the emotionally charged high-voltage "Battle of the Year" in Braunschweig, Germany.

We get to know the boys as young artists, sons trying to please demanding parents, athletes pushing their bodies to the limits, teens struggling to find their place in a difficult world. Planet B-Boy shows how these artists--no less dedicated and skilled than Olympic gymnasts--are confront mainstream cultures that pressure them to conform: one Korean lad struggles to live up to his traditionally-minded father's expectations, a twelve-year-old boy in the French crew faces his family's not-too-subtle racism, the Las Vegas lads are trying to achieve the American dream through self-expression.

The boys' personalities and stories are entirely engaging. Their dancing is superb, and their explosive energy makes your head spin with excitement--even if you're not adept at B-Boys' requisite headspinning.

This is such a rich and rewarding experience you'll want to see it more than once. And, after seeing it, you'll never be able to walk by a breakdancer on the street without stopping to check out the moves and offer some encouragement.