I was curious to see what Bring It On: Fight to the Finish, the 5th film in the Bring It On franchise had to offer so it was nice to see the DVD come in the mail. As of now, I have seen Bring It On 1, 3, and 5. Although I think it is safe to say that none of the films come close to how great the first film is. While the majority would say that 2-5 films are ultimately the same, Bring It On: Fight to the Finish is still a film you can enjoy on a Saturday afternoon.

DVD Release Date: September 1, 2009
1 Disc/1 hour 43 minutes Run time/PG-13

In the all-new movie Bring It On: Fight to the Finish, East Los Angeles high school cheer squad captain Lina Cruz (Christina Milian) and her best friends Gloria (Vanessa Born) and Treyvonetta (Gabrielle Dennis) have high hopes of winning the Spirit Championships with the team’s fiery fusion of Latin and hip-hop moves. Instead, Lina’s world is turned upside down when her mother remarries and her family relocates to Malibu where she is forced to adjust to a new home, a new stepsister (Holland Roden) and a new school with a less-than-stellar cheer squad. Always ready for a challenge, Lina takes on the daunting task on transforming the Malibu Vista High Sea Lions cheer squad into a championship team, but she will have to get past the award-winning Jaguar cheer squad and their captain, Avery (Rachele Smith). Lina’s budding romance with Avery’s brother Evan (Cody Longo) only intensifies the rivalry. With the stakes higher than ever before, Lina devises a bold plan that could blow the Jaguars right off of the competition floor and lead the Sea Lions to victory!

The film starts out with a dream sequence opening and thank goodness for that as it is full of the stereotypical personalities we saw in the 3rd Bring It On film. As the film goes on, it lightens up. Christina Milian’s character is Cuban American and the film is deeply tied to the Latin culture and hip hop dancing. There seemed to be more dancing than cheering in the routines, which was odd but actually more enjoyable. There were no familiar faces from previous Bring It On films yet it seems like the same school settings were used as filming locations, I’m not positive though. As far as the storyline goes, it was not original…it was the same as we’ve seen in all of the previous Bring It On films which makes me wonder why these films are still being made. There can still be new stories developed around cheer competitions. Anyway, as for the acting, there were some weak actors but this is not a major motion picture film so there is time to perfect that. The best part about the film was the actual All Star Spirit Championship which was choreographed very well, and the music and directing of the routines was great. E! News reporter, Giuliana Rancic made a cameo in the film, which was fun to see. The film overall was good although I don’t see myself running to watch it again. You can tell that there was a lot of work put into this film in every aspect…and there was thought put into how to make it more than the previous films. That thought and effort is part of the reason why it was good.

As for the Bonus Features… these features were utilized very well! The Practice Round takes you behind the scenes as choreographer, Tony G teaches cheer routines to the cast. This special feature was crucial in a way, so that viewers can see just how much work this cast puts into the film. The feature, Back Stage Pass takes viewers behind-the-scenes at the making of the film. This feature helps you get to know each of the main characters, takes you inside cheer camp and more. It’s a lot of fun to watch. On Set With Christina Milian is an interactive video diary directed by Christina herself as she talks to cast members on the set of the film. The best diary entry was “Show N Go Basket Toss” where Christina practices a cheer stunt. Quite entertaining and scary to watch. There are a few Deleted Scenes that were not entertaining or did not further the storyline, so it is understandable why they were deleted. Lastly, on the bonus features, you can watch an episode of Mun2: The Chicas Project, “Flip This” in which the Chicas go to cheer camp in Texas. This has nothing to do with Bring It On, so it’s not necessary to watch. The last two bonus features mentioned, I would skip but the others are worth the watch.

Bring It On: Fight to the Finish comes out on Blu-ray Hi-Def and DVD on September 1, 2009.

Win a copy of Bring It On: Fight to the Finish DVD here.