Back in 2000, Bring It On delivered a pleasant surprise, as it gave us a teen comedy with more wit and cleverness than anyone could expect. It also launched a raft of direct-to-video sequels from 2004 through 2009.

After an eight-year break, the franchise returns with 2017’s Bring It On: Worldwide #Cheersmack. In the realm of competitive cheerleading, “The Rebels” reign supreme, but they get a challenge from an upstart group called “The Truth”.

Internet “cheer-lebrity” Cheer Goddess (Vivica A. Fox) organizes an international battle among the squads. This leads Rebels chief Destiny (Cristine Prosperi) to push her team to be their best.

Although I liked the original Bring It On, I skipped the sequels. From what I know, these films didn’t connect to the first one and just used its title as an excuse for new, unrelated stories.

That holds true for Cheersmack, a movie that seems more inspired by the Pitch Perfect films than anything else. In particular, Cheersmack reminds me of 2015’s Pitch Perfect 2, partly because both movies focus on global competitions.

Cheersmack also recalls Pitch 2 because both sequels fail to capitalize on their predecessors’ strengths. Like the first Bring It On, the original Pitch offered a film that should’ve been nothing more than tiresome tween fodder, but instead, it managed a lively, clever take on its niche.

Pitch 2 lost the charm of the first movie, and the same holds true for Cheersmack. It may take place in the same kind of cheer-related universe as the 2000 film, but otherwise, they share nothing.

In particular, Cheersmack comes with a trite story and forgettable characters. Nothing about the competition plot offers anything interesting, and the various roles seem flat and lifeless.

The movie makes a mistake due to the casual nastiness Destiny displays in the first act or so. While she needs to be somewhat self-centered, the film depicts her as a completely self-absorbed witch with no redeeming qualities.

Movies can pull off self-absorbed characters if they show other positives, but we get none of that from Destiny. She just seems mean-spirited and selfish, so when she inevitably develops a conscience and grows as a person, we neither believe it nor care.

Cheersmack doesn’t even prosper when it indulges in its dance/cheer scenes. Though these seem well-executed at their core, the film edits them in such a frenetic manner that we fail to invest in them. The scenes come across as hyperactive and annoying more than anything else.

I admit I find it hard to slam a movie with so many shots of sexy young women in tight/skimpy clothes. Even with all that eye candy, though, Cheersmack turns into a sub-mediocre piece of cinematic product.

Bring It On: Worldwide #Cheersmack appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.78:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. This direct-to-video effort came with a fine presentation.

Overall definition looked positive. A sliver of softness crept into some wider shots, but the majority of the movie offered nice delineation and accuracy. No issues with moiré effects or jaggies materialized, and I witnessed no signs of edge haloes or source flaws.

In a break from the usual orange and teal, Cheersmack opted for a pretty broad palette. It came with a mix of vivid hues, all of which popped off the screen in a lively manner.

Blacks seemed dark and dense, while low-light shots offered good smoothness and clarity. Ultimately, the image was more than satisfactory.

In addition, the movie’s DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack suited the material. As expected, music dominated the proceedings, and the many songs used the various channels in an involving manner.

Effects had less to do, as they focused mainly on ambience. Given the emphasis on music, that was fine, and the sides/surrounds provided enough material to succeed.

Audio quality also pleased. Again, music became the most dominant aspect of the mix, and the songs/score boasted fine range and impact.

Speech came across as natural and concise, whereas effects seemed accurate and realistic. Nothing here dazzled, but the track worked for the movie.

A few featurettes flesh out the set. Around the World: Building the Squads goes for four minutes, 24 seconds and includes comments from director Robert Adetuyi, producer Mike Elliott, supervising choreographer Tony Gonzalez, and actors Vivica A. Fox, Cristine Prosperi, Natalie Walsh, Stephan Lee Benson, Sophie Vavasseur, Sven Ruygrok, Jordan Rodrigues, and Gia Re.

“World” looks at aspects of the movie’s cheer scenes. A few useful nuggets emerge but most of the show simply praises Gonzalez’s work.

A New Routine lasts six minutes, 14 seconds and features Prosperi, Rodrigues, Adetuyi, Fox, Ruygrok, Gonzalez, Benson and producer Mike Elliott. “Routine” discusses story/character areas as well as cheer-related elements. Once again, it gives us a superficial program most of the time.

Finally, The Look of Bring It On: Worldwide goes for two minutes, 32 seconds and presents notes from Adetuyi, Walsh, Prosperi, Rodrigues, Vavasseur, Ruygrok, Benson and Fox. “Look” covers production and visual design. Like the other shows, this one gives us a handful of good insights but usually feels fluffy.

A Gag Reel takes up one minute, one second. It brings us the usual allotment of goofiness and lacks much of interest.

The disc opens with ads for Cult of Chucky, All I Want For Christmas Is You and Space Between Us.

Though the original Bring It On managed a fair amount of wit and charm, Worldwide #Cheersmack fails to do the same. It takes a tiresome plot and mixes it with lackluster characters to end up as a contrived bore. The Blu-ray boasts very good picture and audio but saddles us with fluffy bonus materials. Cheersmack can’t even live up to my low expectations.