Hear Me Move

MOVIE:

Hear Me Move

OUR RATING:

2/5 Stars

WHAT IT'S ABOUT:

Muzi, the son of an amazing pantsula dancer, goes on a journey to learn the truth about his father’s death and come to terms with his own identity. Will Muzi embrace his destiny and become the man he is meant to be?

WHAT WE THOUGHT:

Branded South Africa’s first ever dance movie I was excited to see Hear Me Move. It’s a big departure from the usual crime and rom-coms that have been common in the local film industry.

"Sbujwa" and "pantsula" dance sequences choreographed by Paul Modjadji, some of the hottest local music as the soundtrack and set in urban Jozi all sound like a winning recipe.

But alas it fell short and was merely a knock off of the popular Hollywood dance movies You Got Served and Step Up.

The movie tells the story of Muzi (Nyaniso Dzedeze) the son of a legendary pantsula dancer. After his father was killed he promised his mother that he would never dance. He meets up with his father’s old dance partner who encourages him to join his new dance crew and so Muzi has to make a decision to dance or to respect his mother’s wishes.

But the story is not just about dance. Muzi discovers what really happened to his father on the night he died and that a rival crew leader is in fact his brother.

I was very frustrated during the screening of this film as we somehow got a copy without subtitles and while it is was easy to follow the storyline I felt alienated during the movie watching experience.

The pace of the story is very rushed as if they wanted to pack so much into the film that they missed out on finer details.

The plot is very predictable and follows the standard recipe that ends in the dramatic dance off battle.

Speaking about dancing, for a dance movie there was very little dancing. And the dancing was okayish.

Overall it’s not a bad movie, it’s entertaining. It’s just forgettable. I think we can do better than that.

WATCH THE TRAILER HERE: