You Got Served

You Got Served
Directed by Chris Stokes
Produced by
Written by Chris Stokes
Starring
Music by Tyler Bates
Edited by Earl Watson
Distributed by Screen Gems
Release dates
  • January 30, 2004
Running time
 95 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $8 million
Box office $48,631,561

You Got Served is a film written and directed by Chris Stokes, manager of its stars, recording artist Marques Houston and the members of boy band B2K. The plot concerns a group of dancers, who take part in a street dancing competition. It was released by Columbia Pictures' Screen Gems division on January 30, 2004, and was produced by Marcus Morton, Cassius Weathersby, Billy Pollina, Kris Cruz Toledo. It opened at #1 at the box office during Super Bowl weekend with $16 million grossed in its first week. It has recently gained a cult following. It was filmed on May 1, 2003 through June 25, 2003 and released on January 30, 2004. Houston and Grandberry later starred in the 2004 film Fat Albert.

Plot

David (Omarion) and Elgin (Marques Houston) lead a promising dance crew in Los Angeles, California who participate in street dancing battles at a warehouse owned by a local club owner, Mr. Rad (Steve Harvey). The film opens up with their crew battling another crew led by Vick (Raz-B). Their crew defeats Vick's crew.

After the battle, David and Elgin go to another club to deliver drugs for a drug lord named Emerald (Michael Taliferro) in order to get money for the battles. Later on, David and Elgin are challenged by Wade (Christopher Jones), a rich kid from Orange County, for $5,000, they think it's easy money. After winning another battle, Wade and his best friend, Max (Robert Hoffman) meet Elgin at a park. Elgin tells them that his crew will battle their crew next Saturday night, but Wade and Max think that Elgin's crew are not good enough to battle them tonight. Furious, Elgin accepts their offer. He borrows money from his grandmother for the battle.

Due to the amount of money on the line, Mr. Rad announces that there will be no fighting during the battle and has bodyguard as insurance. Nonetheless a fight does breakout after David and Elgin realize their opponent has their move set due to one of the their crew member's Sonny (Jerome Jones) betraying the team to join Wade's. The crowd applauds Wade's crew but David and Elgin are furious that they have lost for the first time. Wade, crowing over his success, delivers the titular line, "You're just mad... 'cause tonight you suckas got served!" Wade's crew takes over Mr. Rad's club and David and Elgin's crew leave furiously.

Meanwhile, David and Liyah (Jennifer Freeman), Elgin's sister, are falling in love. David picks her up from work and they go to a restaurant. While playing basketball with Vick, who decides to join David and Elgin after his crew leaves him, Elgin gets a cell phone call from Emerald telling him that he wants them to come earlier to do their job. Elgin tries to call David immediately, but before David can take Elgin's call, Liyah turns off his phone, leaving Elgin to do the job himself. Elgin is beat down by some local thugs that take Emerald's money landing him in the hospital, in trouble with Emerald, and furious at David for not being there when he needed him.

The friends split up and form their own crews, but neither is as good as on their own as they are together. Elgin forbids Liyah to see David, ignoring the fact that she and David want to help him. Rico (J-Boog) tells David and Elgin about the "Big Bounce," a $50,000 dance competition purportedly sponsored by MTV which will provide the winning crew the opportunity to perform in a Lil' Kim video. Elgin sees this as a way to pay back Emerald and his grandmother. Attempts to bring Elgin and David together, particularly by Liyah, are fruitless, as both nearly come to blows when encountering each other.

Elgin receives a visit from Emerald, who tells him he has a couple of weeks to pay him back. He warns Elgin not to cross him or he "will never walk, let alone dance again."

During the qualifying rounds of the Big Bounce, many crews perform and impress the judges with their skills including Wade's crew. During this time Liyah talks with Mr. Rad about David and Elgin's problems. He reveals that he knows the situation with Emerald and took care of it stating that Emerald had a 'change of heart'. When it is time for David's crew to dance, two slip-ups costs his crew a chance to make it to the finals. Elgin's crew, however, impresses the judges and gets to the finals.

While lamenting his loss in the semis, David and Liyah learn that Lil Saint, (Malcolm David Kelley), a young boy who has been accepted into the crew through Rico, was killed in a drive-by. The next day, Rico goes over to Elgin's house and tells him that they should reunite the crew in honor of Lil' Saint. David arrives minutes later, after Liyah asked him to come over in an attempt for him and Elgin to end their feud. David states, however, that in the competition rules they can only complete with the crews they started with. Regardless, both of them still don't forgive each other.

Later, Elgin's crew, going by the name "The Lil' Saints", show up to the finals of the "Big Bounce" competition. Wade Robson and Lil' Kim host the competition. The finals begin, but when they announce the winner, they discover there is a tie between "The Lil' Saints" and "Wade's Crew". Both crews refuse a tie. Lil' Kim gets advice from Mr. Rad, who declares a battle competition, "straight hood," with no rules, even allowing other people to join the battling crews. David also comes and asks to join Elgin's crew. With backup from their friends, Elgin forgives David and allows him to join.

They battle Wade's crew, dedicating the battle to Lil' Saint. "The Lil' Saints" win after they get the loud approval from the crowd. As they celebrate their victory, Elgin gives his blessings for David and Liyah to be together. Wade and Max, however, walk up to them, angry over their loss. David replies with, "Y'all just mad, 'cause today, you suckas got served." Their friends and the rest of the crowd begin to chant 'served' causing both Wade and Max to leave in shame. David and Elgin continue to celebrate with their friends and family.

Cast

Sequel

You Got Served: Beat The World is a straight to DVD film released on June 21, 2011 starring Lil' C.

Beat The World is a film written and directed by Robert Adetuyi (writer - Stomp The Yard) released in 2011, by InnerCity Films. It was distributed in the United States on DVD by Sony Home Entertainment under the name You Got Served: Beat The World.[1] The film stars Tyrone Brown, Mishael Morgan, Nikki Grant and Parkour artist Chase Armitage.

The original soundtrack was produced by Frank Fitzpatrick and released on Hip Hop Connect. It features KRS-One, K’naan, Ziggy Marley, Nneka, Les Nubians, MV Bill, Talib Kweli, Sway and Lina. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Debbie Allen Dance Academy through EarthTones.

Soundtrack

You Got Served Soundtrack features mainly music by B2K, but also Marques Houston, and many others. There were some profanities in the soundtrack such as "Streets Is Callin'" but did not receive a PA label. The soundtrack was released on December 23, 2003. Also, there was a release of a music video for B2K's single "Badaboom" featuring Fabolous and Marques Houston was the guest appearance.

Reception

You Got Served opened at the #1 spot, knocking The Butterfly Effect to #2. It had generally poor reviews, earning a 17% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.[2] While many critics enjoyed the dance sequences, they found the rest of the movie to be rather generic.

Parodies

References

  1. ↑ "You Got Served: Beat the World (2011) - IMDb". IMDB. IMBD. Retrieved 9 June 2012.
  2. ↑ "You Got Served - Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixter. Retrieved 9 June 2012.

External links