'Fired Up' review

Smith Cho, AnnaLynne McCord and Nicole Tubiola (Credit: Suzanne Tenner/Sony)

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When ladykilling high school football stars Shawn (Nicholas D’Agosto, who deserves better) and Nick (Eric Christian Olsen, totally annoying) discover their football training camp has moved from sunny Daytona Beach to barren El Paso, Texas, they formulate a plan to stay in the company of babes: join the cheerleaders at their camp instead. It works like a charm until Shawn develops feelings for skeptical cheer-queen Carly (Sarah Roemer) and Nick falls for a sexy older woman (Molly Sims) who happens to be married to the camp’s supervisor (John Michael Higgins).
 
The buzz: It’s been almost nine years since “Bring It On” made the concept of a cheerleader comedy actually work and it seems unlikely this lackluster looking goof with no star power can even come close. If that doesn’t prepare you for the worst, how about the fact that the movie was developed by the company that publishes Maxim magazine? And what’s up with casting a 30-year-old (Olsen) and a 27-year-old (D’Agosto) as high school students?

The verdict: How this idea escaped its logical fate as a direct-to-DVD “Bring It On 6: It’s the Boys’ Turn!” is anyone’s guess. At least the “Fired” filmmakers have the dignity to acknowledge their debt with a scene featuring the cheer campers reciting dialogue at an outdoor screening of “Bring It On.” That’s about as clever as things get in a movie that brings nothing but neutered sex comedy raunchiness (skinnydipping just isn’t any fun when you need a PG-13 rating) and plotting so lame it belongs on the Disney channel (Carly is suspicious of sweet-natured Shawn but can’t see through her transparently jerky boyfriend). And seriously, 30-year-olds playing teens? If Zac Efron wasn’t available couldn’t they at least have hired someone from “Gossip Girl”?

Did you know? Isn’t it time to put a moratorium on “Tubthumping” jokes? They weren’t even that funny in 1997, and the poor members of Chumbawamba really don’t need more reminders of their one-hit wonder status.

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