A good movie is expected to have a central plot that doesn’t seem predictable. It is also expected to hold the viewer’s interest with additional side plots that enhance the main plot. Some films throw in the additional ones but lose the thread halfway through with nothing seeming complete. And after watching Netflix’s Battle: Freestyle, no seasoned cinephile would dare say that the events that came to life on screen took them by surprise.
Battle: Freestyle proved to be an unnecessary sequel. Perhaps a producer saw potential in the story idea? This Norwegian film did have this, but its execution was flawed. Unfortunately, in going to throw in too many distractions, the freestyle element was lacking and dance fans may also regret watching this Netflix offering.
Battle: Freestyle begins with a glance at Amalie, Mikael, (who reprise their roles from Battle), and their crew. They break-dance on the street, earn money from gathered audiences, and work mundane day jobs. One sits behind a desk, the other is a football coach, and one of them is seen at a supermarket.
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It’s the typical, ‘my passion can’t pay my bills’ moment. The crew even lives together, thereby symbolizing the bond that exists among them when opportunity strikes.
It is just before this that the protagonist’s boss gives her a line that can serve as the propelling tool for this film. Based on the introduction, it doesn’t come as a surprise as the director Ingvild Soderlind forgets a lot of things. Soderling even forgot an element that didn’t let audiences experience a straightforward euphoric leap once the crew learned about their invitation.
It is a minor off-screen element, something genuine, something real, but filmmakers should use this to capitalize on the fact that it is necessary to include snippets of what they tease. Had this conflict played out along with Amalie’s personal life issues, Battle: Freestyle could have explored this angle of a discord among other members of the crew. It could have enhanced their frustrations at Amalie playing truant.
The absence of the issues makes the mother-daughter storyline seem problematic as it distracts viewers. While it does occupy a meaty chunk of the 88-minute run-time, it dilutes the promise that the title (Battle: Freestyle) provides. It also leads to many questions, such as this one. Is Breakdancing choreographed and rehearsed or is it just performed on impulse? It does seem performed on impulse, but the moves do need to be practiced and in sync. If it is indeed performed on impulse, what was the point of the crew taking that decision to penalize Amalie?
Or what was the need for them to rehearse as a group? They could have done it individually if the main aim was to stay in sync with their moves.
Moving onto the dance aspect, Battle: Freestyle is not the haven for breakdance enthusiasts as there are barely any scenes of the crew doing so. The Cypher tournament just rushes by with very questionable rules, having no verification about contestants.
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Another thing that proved surprising in this extremely confused and directionless film is Amalie’s decision to wear a costume that her four crew members wore. She wore it despite not being part of the group at the start. Also, they had something else on in the initial rounds. Talk about a magical costume sync!
Writer Martina Cecelia knew the starting point and the ending point. The writer also had ideas of how to get from point A to Point B. Unfortunately, the hotchpotch proved problematic. It felt like ideas just thrown in together. One can say that the film was about Amalie trying to discover herself. Why? She made quite a telling decision in the first act and had quite a firm line when interacting on the phone. She made friends, but they were absent during the competition.
Netflix seems to be facing the issue of a problem in plenty. This is just one of their films that got made as they desire original content. The drawback is that it isn’t memorable and may not have hit production or had such a wide release. Watch this film and forget it, or rather, don’t even watch it.
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