Sequel to the '80s "classic" Breakin' with an old Mickey Rooney/Judy Garland plot about putting on a show to save a community center. The same main characters are back and haven't changed any. Turbo (Michael 'Boogaloo Shrimp' Chambers) is still the fun and likable one with the best dance moves. Ozone (Adolfo 'Shabba-Doo' Quinones) is still kind of a downer with a huge chip on his shoulder. He's also the weakest dancer in the movie. Kelly aka Special K (Lucinda Dickey) is still the rich girl who has big decisions to make about her career and her love life. Her dancing has significantly improved from the first movie. Lucinda is as pretty as ever but she has competition now from Turbo's girlfriend, played by the lovely Sabrina Garcia (whose Spanish-speaking voice sounds like it was dubbed by a child). The epic rivalry with Electro Rock continues and we get a fun dance-off out of it. There's more dancing this time around with Turbo's gravity-defying dance scene a highlight. As with the first movie, it's pretty cheesy but amusing in its way. It certainly has nostalgic value for people of my generation. If you don't take it seriously you'll probably enjoy it more.
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utgard1415 February 2014
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Mr. Pulse22 February 2002Nothing in the world can prepare you for Breakin 2: Electric Boogaloo. No description does it justice, no warning truly gives you an idea of what you are in store for. Few movies are as bizarre, yet oddly compelling at the same time.
Because one movie wasn't enough to contain these people; Breakin 2 picks up where the first movie picks off. Or so I assume, I haven't seen Breakin, but the three main characters Kelly (Lucinda Dickey), Ozone (Adolfo Quinones) and Turbo (Michael Chambers) are the same. In this installment the trio try to save a youth center named Miracles from the clutches of evil (read: white and unhip) government bigwigs who want to bulldoze the unsafe building and make way for a new shopping center.
It's fortunate that the trio live in an alternate universe in which breakdancing can solve all of society's ills. No exaggeration here; over the course of ninety-four boogie filled minutes, dancing stops bulldozers, pays bills, ends gang wars, and even cures the ill and the infirm (One person bounds out of the wheelchair in jubilation; apparently they simply forgot they could walk). There is so much dancing in this movie that it frequently appears that the plot is intruding on it, and not the other way around. These are people who work a hard day's living dancing then go home and blow off some steam by, what else, dancing.
This isn't a poorly made movie in the traditional sense; it isn't full of continuity holes or bad special effects. For all its silliness, it probably succeeds in exactly the way it wanted to; as a movie about people who love breakdancing so much they'd rather do that than say, eat, sleep, converse, or share meaningful human contact. More than fifteen years later, it's terribly quaint, and hilariously dated. But it has a city-wide dance party, a hospital-wide dance party, a dance-filled climax (a shock, I know) and two performances by Ice-T. What more do you want? Do yourself a favor and rent this movie. By the end, you'll be dancing too. -
SnoopyStyle17 September 2018Rich girl Kelly Bennett is now a chorus dancer after the close of Street Jazz. She and Ozone are together and his ex Rhonda is jealous. Turbo falls for Latina dancer Lucia. Ozone and Turbo are teaching street dancing to the kids. Byron runs local community center Miracles where they hang out. Developer Douglas is trying to tear it down and build a shopping center. Sleazy minion Randall pushes the local government to tear it down. The dance trio defeats the Electros in a dance off. The community has to battle the developer to save their Miracles.
I don't remember Kelly having a rich family in the first movie. I guess it's possible that she was being independent working in that diner. It looks more like a manufactured class conflict between Kelly and her street life. This time around, the movie is asking more acting from the group and it's met with varying results. Kelly and Ozone have no real romantic chemistry. It double-downs on the first movie's little crush and the actors struggle to have any heat. It's cute to have love sick Turbo and he has one of the best upside down dance sequences ever. They recreate that shack so well that it's almost a perfect transition between the real world shack and the rotating one. The only truly awkward transition happens when Lucia walks into the room. She's stuck to the wall when Turbo is dancing upside down. This sequel is a cheesier effort highlighted by that one awesome dance sequence and a sequel title for the history books. Ice-T does return to do more rapping. -
alirock764 September 2004Yeah the film is predictable, poorly acted, & the clothes.... well! yet this is exactly was the 80's was all about & why it was the best decade ever. I mean tell me, who didn't enjoy police academy, porkies, those silly troma films & all those ridiculous teenage slasher movies. & then we have the transformers, he-man, visionaries & the best cartoon ever made the THUNDERCATS.... HO! My point is basically the 80's was about having fun & was represented by film, TV & especially music... gap band, shalamar, earth, wind & fire... kool & the gang, & of course the greatest of them all MICHAEL JACKSON (yo' all know!) So in essence remember this film, & it should make you smile & remember just how great life is & how great it was growing up & living through all those silly movies & knight rider, street hawk, tj hooker, automan, airwolf etc & you all remember leg warmers & fluorescent socks & especially wearing shorts on top of your trousers (pants lol) & Mr T long live the A-Team & viva the 80's
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Java_Joe10 March 2019When the movie "Breakin'" came out the whole trend of breakdancing was everywhere. It was absolutely huge. So obviously they needed to make a sequel but this time to focus on breakdancing's little brother, Electric Boogaloo. And a meme was born. And I mean that literally. Electric Boogaloo became the standard response to whenever a movie was coming out with a sequel for decades to come.
Batman Returns? No, people called it "Batman 2: Electric Boogaloo". Terminator 2? Of course not. It was "Terminator 2: Electric Boogaloo". It's so popular a saying that even 35 years later people are still making this comment whenever a new sequel is coming out. Usually it is reserved for movies that are less popular or people wonder why they're making a sequel but occasionally you get a wag that didn't get the memo.
The story itself is pretty standard fare. The main characters are back. Kelly is now dancing in some chorus line somewhere and wanting to go to France. While Ozone and Turbo are heading up a youth center called "Miracles". But along comes an evil developer that wants to put up a shopping mall where Miracles is. So the only way to save it is to put on a show, raise a lot of money and make sure that the mortgage on it is paid and that Miracles stays where it is. This is a plot device that I seem to recall being used by the Lil Rascals back in the day. And I mean the actual B&W series from the 30's.
This is cut with scenes of what Shabba-Doo a.k.a Ozone and Boogaloo Shrimp a.k.a Turbo do best which is dance. And let me tell you, this is something they are able to do. When it comes to their acting? Not so much.
To call the plot contrived and the actors not being able to act is like calling a duck a duck. They're not actors, they're dancers and that's what you came to see.
The movie itself is pretty bad but as I said, if you're seeing this for any other reason than either you love bad movies or want to see them dance then you're here for all the wrong reasons. -
constructionbob15 May 2000No, Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo will never win any awards. It'll never even come close, but for some strange reason I still enjoy it. I'd much rather spend a night watching it than some pretentious Hollywood garbage like Armegeddon. Let's see if I can find a few reasons why.
This movie is sort of like a Scooby Doo episode-you know the plot already, and can predict it easily. Oh no! The youth center's in trouble! How much you wanna bet that the Breakin' kids will come through with the money just in time to save it? How much you wanna bet that'll involve an inordinate number of spontaneous dance scenes, and supa-dope fly moves? Yep, you might be able to guess the answers.
It's just fun to see these people play it out, because they're obviously having fun. Yeah, even the straights like Kelly's parents finally get on the train. And watch for the scene in the hospital. Yes, the miraculous power of break dancing can bring your loved ones back from the dead!
Oh well, maybe I can't defend this intellectually, but this movie's still great. Watch it, and just try to do the robot as well as Turbo or Ozone...just be careful, or you might actually have fun too... -
...not from trying to mimic the dance moves, but from being so mind-numbingly bad. I have read some of the positive reviews with fascination. Did they watch the same movie? I was also a teenager in the breakdancing era, and I did enjoy the first one. I chased every movie of its type. I even watched Body Rock with Lorenzo Lamas!
This movie had everything wrong. The music was, by far, the absolute worst! No real baseline or beat, and definitely not music anyone would break, pop or lock to! The only redemption is Din Daa Daa by George Kranz. Everything else sounded like it was thrown together at the last minute by musicians who had anything better to do. The story plays like an ABC after-school special, only 100x cornier. Ozone's clothes were ridiculous. No one dressed like that. At least not that I ever saw, and I grew up with Beat Street.
Acting, music, story, wardrobe...all EPIC fails. I actually paid to see this in the theater, hoping, waiting for some real breaking and good music. Neither were forthcoming. Watch this movie if you want to have a laugh at the trainwreck, but don't think for a second it is representative of the breaking scene. -
midcat200130 October 2014If you were a teenager or on your early 20's back in 1984, this was probably an epic movie. It had all the elements that at that time were HIP and HOT.
What is not to love about that? The fashion of those days was amazing!, If it wasn't so, then WHY are we seeing the resurgence of so many 80's fashion staples as Skinny Jeans, NEON colors (Oh yeah!, this is my favorite!), and the all famous tank tops in bright colors with words and fancy designs in the front? I am not going to lie, for today's standards this is not a movie that you would rave about unless you want to make fun of it.
Graphics, music, and styles change, but for those of us who used to break dance, trade mix tapes, and carry our own boom box, this was an awesome movie! Even now a days I still feel that the only thing I will regret at the end of my life is that I never got to pursue dancing an become a "SOLID GOLD" professional dancing girl! :(
Watching it today, after so many years brought back some amazing memories and I can't deny that I was smiling the whole time! Not only that, but seeing Neon all over the screen made me feel so nostalgic! After all this years, I still wish I could rock some of those fashions I saw in the movie! Whenever I go to the mall and see some neon fashions, I know that back then, I would have killed to own some of the stuff that is around today! I no longer have the energy, body, and stamina to dance like in those days, and I cannot wear the same clothes, but how I loved seeing it the way it really was back then!!
Dancing numbers are still cool, Fashion was off the charts, acting was not the best, but WHO CARES? this was not an Oscar contender, this was a movie made for those of us who were kids at that time who enjoyed the same things that made it the great movie that it is.
So no, it is not for everyone, but for those of us who lived, danced, and enjoyed the early 80's this still is a favorite, and a great movie!! Dancing is universal, and even if the music styles are different, you have to appreciate the moves!! -
outlawyr22 October 2017Let's start with the obvious. This is a sequel, so already you go into it with diminished expectations. But I read Ebert's review and thought it was actually going to be good. Nope. Here are a few of the most annoying things about this movie.
1) Break dancing gets very tiresome after a while. It's really not that many different moves. Yes, it looks hard to do, but it also can be hard to watch after so many similar routines.
2) Kelly is not very likable. Given that she's the main character, that's a problem.
3) Why is there a secret Fight Club hidden inside the break dancing Miracles palace?
4) Why was Turbo on the ceiling redoing a routine from a Fred Astaire movie?
5) If they had just taken the father's deal Kelly could have gone to Paris and had a successful career, and they would have gotten the money they needed to save "Miracles".
6) Why are they spending $200,000 to fix a building owned by the City? Why don't they buy their own building? Then the rich dude can open his mall and there will be jobs for these broken break dancers to take when they decide they want to eat some day.
7) Why have they kidnapped Cindy Brady and forced her to join their break dancing cult?
8) In the credits they mention a Michael Jackson impersonator, who apparently was so bad I didn't even notice that there was one. Well played.
9) The rival gang is actually much cooler than the break dancing gang. They have a car. They have a cool underpass that no one is going to steal by building a mall. When asked to help with the fundraiser they defy all expectation and say no. They remain true rivals.
10) The mime. -
freenachos6 December 1999I'd call this movie a "Cult Classic". It will never set any standards for great film, but in this case who really cares? It's got breakdancing. Someday this film will be featured in a university film studies class as a study of 20th century (or 1980s) culture. You're most likely to see this movie on USA Network sometime around midnight. It's not "fine film", but I dig it.
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Captain_Couth29 October 2003The Electric Boogaloo is basically the second half of a three hour film. I guess the producers decided that the audience wasn't going to sit through a three hour musical about break dancing. So they did the next best thing. Made it into two movies. Two movies equals twice the money (Man, those Cannon boys wanted to squeeze every last dollar and cent from the quickly fading break dancing craze). Well, the movie is even cornier and cheesier than the first and just as bad. Look on the bright side, you get Lucinda Dickey!! I guess that's a plus for this other wise monotonous cheese fest.
Recommended for 80's nostalgia fans.
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H_F_Jones25 August 2006You have just finished watching Breakin' - and feel like you want to go out onto the streets and find a group of people to dance with, then you realise that your about 20 years too late and the only gangs hanging around your neighbourhood are not interested in dancing.
Your spirits drop, realising that you can never get back your youth...
But then you remember, you also own Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo and you get back on your sofa and spend another couple of hours with a friendly group of Break Dancers who only want to support their local amenities... They don't use violence (apart from perhaps some suggestive popping' and lockin' moves), they don't use guns or drugs and they even get their rival street gang to kiss and make up with them in order to protect their hood from the City Suits.
Where else could you get a story line like that? Take it for what it is - great music, great dancing, great fun! -
sgmi-5357915 May 2022What made the first film so appealing was it's great score, and vibrant, youthful energy. Luckily, it carries over to the second movie. It's silly, over the top, and cartoonish, but evokes a positive fun vibe missing from so much modern entertainment. Our heroes return from the first film, now volunteering to help local children at a community center. There's a lot of great dancing, the kickin' soundtrack, and a whole lot of fun. This is a Saturday afternoon movie that still resonates way past the heyday of cable. Definitely recommended for anyone who enjoyed Part One, and wants to enjoy a fun feature with a positive message.
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planktonrules27 November 2012A while back, my youngest daughter was telling me how awful she thought fashions were back in the 1980s. Well, I am certainly NOT going to tell her about this film--otherwise she'll never let me forget about this! It features the worst clothing, highly infectious and repetitive music (while not bad at first, it makes your brain melt a bit after a while) and the most inane qualities in a film of the era. It's bad...really, really bad. See the hospital dance scene and the Combat Dance portions and you'll understand.
"Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo" is a film with very, very little plot. Mostly, it's one dance number after another after another. Sometimes the dances are incredible (such as the athleticism of the break dancing)--but much of it is just stupid. To make it worse, their clothing consists of one fashion travesty after another. And, they repeatedly use the word 'whack'---need I say more?! Because the film is essentially just dancing, little was left for decent dialog (it often is VERY bad and the characters are mere caricatures). As for the plot, believe it or not, is a re-tread of an old Mickey Rooney/Judy Garland film. I am not kidding. The 'kids' are about to lose their clubhouse, so they decide to put on a show to raise the funds to fix it up and keep the city from giving it to evil developers. There also is the brilliant rich girl who chooses to hang out on the street and dance instead of heading to Princeton (now THAT'S a good idea). To some, this movie is definitely a bit of nostalgia but for most, it is a chance to laugh hysterically at the silliness of 1984. See it and you'll understand what I am talking about...for sure.
By the way, while impressive to see, the dancing up the walls and ceiling bit was actually taken from a Fred Astaire film. In both cases, the room could be rotated to make it appear as if the dancer is defying gravity. Also, look for a very young and skinny Ice-T as the rapper with the big shades at about halfway through the film. He's the guy breaking the record. He also sings a rap late in the film. And, listen to the 'Mexican' girl--with a horribly dubbed voice that sounds like a 6 year-old! -
LARRYLOVE7119 September 2002Let's get one thing straight......If you haven't lived the Hip-Hop lifestyle, you cannot properly judge this movie in ANY negative manner. I was a teenager in the mid 80's and danced (electric boogie) in the streets and roller rinks of NY for 4+ years. I went to LA when I was 16 and battled other dancers on Venice Beach, which was the MECCA of electric boogie street dancers.
This movie was the best of it's kind!! Michael "Boogaloo Shrimp" Chambers was arguably the best in the craft and shined in both this movie and it's predecessor. Don't view this movie looking for a wealth of incredible acting, but do watch it for some amazing street dancing and a very likeable cast with a good storyline. I LOVED this movie and still do. Every time I see it, I'm transported from my office back to my carefree teenage years, where my biggest problems were what to wear when dancing and what music I was going to boogie to!
I'm popping and throwing waves as I write............ -
mackdaddyspliffs14 October 2003I have actually blocked most of this movie from my mind much as a person would block any traumatic incident in their life that left them scarred, the only slightly redeeming factor i can remember is that ice t was in the cast... but for even agreeing to be in this film he should have been put in a whole BODY CAST.. i was only around 11 or 12 when i watched this, but i remember even then being a pre teen and Loving hip hop and the style Suffering through this movie. I havent seen it ever played on cable or even in the discount dvd rack, thank god, in fact if i did see it on a rack, i would pick it up...put it in my cart, sneak it into the public restroom and spare the public by flushing it...
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vocklabruck16 December 2019This movie was a torture, really. I watched it only because I liked the first installment and wanted to follow-up the guys' careers. The first movie was cheesy, yeah, but at least it had some heart and a storyline, it was enjoyable and you eventually started to like the characters, it made you feel good at the end. This one... well... it has no plot at all, it has a thousand of characters who don't really add anything and the worst fact is that it's actually a bunch of choreographies one after the other without any cohesive story. It's so obvious it can't be explained. At least in the first movie the dances were somehow part of the story, here they are not. The scenes where the 'Electro Rock' gang appeared made me laugh, because right at the end of the first movie those guys actually befriended the main characters. So what the heck were they doing now? 'the villains' were totally meaningless and forced. EVERYTHING was forced, even the use of little children. As if nonsense wasn't enough you get to know Kelly's parents who are VERY wealthy people! What's up with that? Overall it looks like there was no writer for this movie.
Now I understand why they made such a joke of the 'Electric Boogaloo' line. This movie is a joke in itself. -
La Gremlin19 October 2002Okay, on the one hand, this movie is so cheesy it hurts and it does for breakdancers what "Hackers" did for club kids.
But on the other, more domineering hand, it's got great dancing (including a brilliant revolving room act), it's totally eighties, you get to watch Ice-T look totally out of his element, and it has the greatest and best subtitle of any movie ever made. Ever. -
FlashCallahan10 April 2012This film still holds the award for best movie title in the world....ever, but there is still a lot of fun to be had, despite it's obvious flaws.
The original cast are back, and this time, they have to dance up 200,000 dollars, or a community centre will be turned into a shopping mall.
It's predictable stuff, all the people who are against the music are depicted as rich, stiff boring people, whilst at the other end of the spectrum, this film shows you that you don't have to work, just dance and all your problems will go away.
That is looking way too deep into the film though, and if you liked the first, you will love this.
Standout scenes are....
Ozone break-dance fighting yet again, but this time with a fiercer pout.
Turbo literally dancing around the room.
Ozones ex-girlfriends acting skills.
And all of the clothing.
The music is great, and the performances from the three leads are perfunctory. -
lordjin9 December 2004Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo serves as a perfect example of the more often than not erroneous 'bigger is better' philosophy that pervades American society. This movie, if nothing else, reminds us that more is not always more. This stinker of stinkers succeeds only in cheapening the impact of the dancing in the first movie by reducing it to an ornament for an absurd non-story.
In its predecessor one can detect a tiny drop of integrity where the precepts of story forming are concerned. The conflict set up between 'street culture' and society's 'upper-crust' was less than realistic, but break dancing, as a form of urban art, was presented interestingly enough to capture my interest (I'm willing to forgive a lot for the sake of entertainment). The dynamic dance moves were just enough to suspend not disbelief, but dismissal of the ridiculous. In Boogaloo, that hint, that tiny drop of integrity became a drop of spittle on a hot iron. More thought and attention is generally given to the flushing of giant smelly turds than were given to the creation of characters, dialog, and scenarios in Boogaloo. Sam Firstenberg is no Joel Silberg. What? I'm not sure what that means myself. In fact I'm ashamed I said it.
It's not difficult to see why this movie was made. It was the decade of cashing in on flashes-in-the-pan. If a teet squirts milk, then squeeze it for all it's worth, right? Breakin' 2 is nothing more than a poorly conceived advertisement for the flavor of the month. Sadly, this confusion of marketing and entertainment is not only alive and well today, it's grown into a gigantic retarded baby that's painting everything with a thick coat of mediocrity if not out and out stupidity. This is the devolution of popular culture. Art is no longer a part of the everyday. -
ptb-85 July 2005How much gusset bustin fun is this! This sequel to BREAKIN made the same year (1984) and in fizzier color, is so lively and silly for all the right and wrong reasons one might have to start spine spinning around on the lino before reel two . The same three lead dancer actors are with us and I have to say, in better form that the first pic. Those seeking Jean Claude Van Damme's infamous jiving (in a stretchy black figure hugging one piece ladies swimming costume, too!) will have to go back to BREAKIN' and find him there. He manages not to be in this sequel. However, Ice T looking thin and scraggy and long before forensic crime beckoned (or shipboard hilarity in Final Voyage) manages two solo spot turns whilst yelling that the crowd. Adolfo and Linda manage many costume changes and many of those outfits have lots of zippers and bandannas. The real star is the groove kid Michael Chambers whose EASTER PARADE knockoff dance routine leaping and spinning Astaire-like on the walls and ceiling takes that innovative and famous 1948 routine several steps (spins) further and most admirably actually improves on it. Hard to believe, I know, but ELECTRIC BOOGALOO does 'better' a Fred Astaire dance routine from a classic MGM musical! BOOGALOO is set firmly in clicheville and for teen audiences who just wanna dance and have Xanadu type 80s fun. I did and I'm no longer a teen. NO swearing and NO punching also make a refreshing retro change. Great 80s music, some clever dance routines and back to back fashionista beat. Hilarious! Boppy! Yay!
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Mama Mia5 May 2001Somehow I never managed to see the original Breakin but from what I've read it's not necessary. I saw this movie as a child in the 80's and I was enthralled. I guess it's my dancer nature that drew me in. I watched this movie for years seriously. Today, however, it's extremely funny. It's so cheesy that I question how I sat thru it once. Then the breakdancing resumes and I remember why. Even though the film is a comedy to me now, I recommend it to anyone who can still relate to the eighties objectively.
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JohnSeal21 April 2000How can a movie made only 16 years ago be so campy already? Was it campy at the time? Incredibly predictable tale of breakdancers stickin' it to The Man whilst putting on a show and impressing all the straights with their guts and determination. Ice T must be deeply embarrassed by this blot on his career. And those 80s clothes....OH, those 80s clothes.
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Falcon-5128 April 2000The sequel to Breakin' tries to milk every penny in can from the break dancing craze. Still the film suffers from the worst script and poorest acting imaginable. A little creativity could have saved this film from being a complete loss. "Footloose" is a good example of music, dancing and a good script combined. In it's time the music and dancing were fresh, but today it's just a footnote in history with a bad script.
The story is about a bunch of break dancers working together to raise money to prevent developers from tearing down there local recreation center. They decide to put on a show to help raise the 200,000 dollars needed.