In the future, those Asian kids who are insanely good at Dance Dance Revolution will control the world. That is if The FP is any indicator of our future, arguments, turf wars and general revenge pride schemes are settled in the ancient combat of Beat Beat Revelation. I take back everything I have ever said bad about dance movies, cause if it wasn’t them we probably wouldn’t have Battlefield America and The FP. Prepare for the dance battle of your life.
In a dystopian future, a relentless turf war rages. Two rival gangs feud for control of rural wasteland Frazier Park (‘The FP’) in the deadly arena of competitive dance-fight video game “Beat-Beat Revelation.” After hometown hero BTRO is slain on the dance platform by thug leader L Dubba E, his protégé younger brother JTRO (Jason Trost) goes into isolation, vowing never to duel again. One year later, The FP is in ruins, and JTRO must find the courage to return and restore order in a ruthless battle for revenge that can only leave one man dancing. (C) Drafthouse
Sweet Jesus, I have never seen a movie that is so absurdly beautiful that I rushed out and bought this immediately. It’s a movie that is poised to be an instant cult classic, a sort of ready-made movie for a specific audience that demands preposterous plot premises and an obscene sense of no rules, all thrills filmmaking. I remember seeing the initial trailer many months ago when Drafthouse Pictures first acquired the movie and I was sold on this. Much like Battlefield America’s premise of little crunk battling or whatever, The FP promised me a post apocalyptic film where the ancient art of Beat Beat Revelation dancing has become the arena in fortune is showered on the winner and the loser is 187′d. It’ a movie that takes itself seriously while still remembering that it is about a future in which a video game determines the fate of a turf war.
Everything about this movie is pure, unadulterated cheese, but one of best cheesy movies ever. The concept just straddles that line between insanity and brilliance where it is played as a serious drama, but never veering off the path of what makes it funny and unique. It is this deadpan delivery that might swindle some viewers into thinking they are watching a terrible movie when in fact they are witness is carefully crafted satire on the genre. From the dank basements where the brothers BTRO, JTRO and L Dubba E battle for the rights to FP, down to the melodrama that drips with parody of other revenge/pride movies and gang war based film (The Warriors). It’s a big joke that they are all in on which makes what we see unfold on screen, even funnier because we get what it’s trying to do.
The FP is just this hypnotic movie full of bright, vibrant settings, serious melodrama, and some of the best oddball lunacy that you come to expect from a movie with a premise such as beat battle dancing for the control of Frazier Park. Everything is done with meticulous love and care and it shows from how they treat the movie and present it to us. This is a movie that is meant for the midnight owl crowd of movie watchers, those that love to gather in a crowd of rowdy film fans and enjoy a little piece of comedic pie. It’s all an operatic presentation of all the goods things from multiple genres of movies and given to us in the most ludicrous way possible, all while smiling and winking at us.
