LXD: The Uprising Begins, The

From Zanecorpwiki

I like "webisode" programs. They're often quirky, interesting, and entertaining. The low cost distribution gives creatives a place to play. Try out ideas. Get noticed. Whatever. (The webisodes would later be released in a 90 minute movie format.)

The "LXD" series, which was kicked off on "So You Think You Can Dance" in 2009 in one of the best routines I've seen on the show, is ostensibly about a shadowy, ill defined league of dancers that struggle against an even more shadowy and less defined group of (I'll assume) evil dancers.

As you'd expect, the dancing is good, though on a technical note I think it would be better if they'd do longer shots. It's too "edited" for my taste (a trend in action choreography in general). It's much more impressive to see a guy pull of a series of impressive moves and transitions in a single shot. With the frequent cuts and perspective changes it's impossible to feel like you're watching real dancing. Instead it's very clear that you're watching a highly edited fictional sequence based on dancing. With enough editing and takes, I could be made to seem like an excellent dancer, so I hate to harp on this point, but this style of editing really diminishes the talent.

But setting that aside, LXD is on the whole is simply dance porn. There's nothing wrong with that, but--just like real porn--it leaves something to be desired.

I call it dance porn for two reasons. First, it's really all about the dancing. The story and backdrop is very much secondary. Second, also like porn, the story is forced, and the acting sub-par acting. (Though the "production value" is perfectly fine.)

The acting I don't have much of a problem with because I know these guys there for their dancing, not their acting. Still, they are performers and I suspect that something could have been done to raise the level somewhat. The story, however, is nearly unforgivably bad. I say nearly, because--since it is dance porn after all--the story doesn't really matter all that much.

The problem is the dancing really deserves a better story. The concept is fine. It's simple and honestly doesn't need a lot of sophistication to pull off what's clearly a basic take on superhero tropes. So you don't need do a lot, and the movie trips up by trying way to hard. And this movie tries really, really hard. The narration is almost a caricature.

At other times, it seems like they're hardly trying at all. In one episode, two guys are mysteriously granted super powers after rolling around in packing peanuts. As origin stories go, that's about as lame as it gets. I mean, it sounds like a joke, but it's in there.

To my mind, it's clear that what the project lacks is someone with a mature sense of narrative. The basic problem is the viewer is asked to believe there's all this drama and tension, but there's no foundation to support it and no context. "Shadowy goings on" are interesting, but you don't create interest by keeping your audience ignorant. Each episode opens with a vague narration of how "we were not ready" or "some people seek their destiny, while are sought by destiny", but it's all just piled on with no clear rhyme or reason and rather than mysterious simply ends up being inane.

It kinda feels like a bunch of dancers got together and brainstormed about how awesome it would be if their dance skills were like superpowers and dance battles determined the fate of the world, and then jotted down a dozen half-formed plot summaries and started filming. Someone really should have been brought in to write a real script.

But again, being dance porn, maybe none of that matters so much. My feeling, though, is that just because you're doing porn doesn't mean you have to make a shitty movie.