While the NY Times review of Planet B-Boy is not all positive, it’s still nice to see that they are at least giving it some attention. As far as I can tell, this is the first b-boy documentary that the NY Times has ever reviewed, and while they cite it for its “nagging flaws” such as “choppy editing,” they go on to say:

“‘Planet B-Boy‘ is fun, sometimes thrilling and packed with illuminating details and striking personalities.”

The NY Post review is a different story. The review starts off with what seems to be a blow to b-boying in general with this line:

“THE break-dancing documentary ‘Planet B-Boy‘ proves that what might be (but probably isn’t) worth five minutes of your time while you’re passing through the Times Square subway station really isn’t worth a 1 1/2-hour movie.”

With that in mind, it’s easy to understand why the reviewer would find a film about b-boys unbearable to watch. If he can’t stomach five minutes of it live, why would anyone expect him to enjoy it for almost two hours on video? He ends the review with this:

“Meanwhile, we watch a stupefying series of scenes of young men jumping around and spinning on their skulls in an effort to become tomorrow’s semi-visible backup dancers in music videos.”

The review seems more to denounce b-boying than it does the Planet B-Boy film. If his understanding is that all b-boys and b-girls train in order to become backup dancers, then it’s no wonder he found no meaning in the film.

Then again, I haven’t actually seen the film yet, so it may be just as bad as the NY Post reviewer thinks it is. If anyone has seen it, let us know what you thought in the comments.

LINKS:
- NY Times review of Planet B-Boy
- NY Post review of Planet B-Boy

OTHER REVIEWS:
- Village Voice
- Variety

ADDITIONAL LINKS:
- Planet B-Boy