You Got Served

You Got Served
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Chris Stokes
Written by	Chris Stokes
Produced by	Marcus Morton Cassius Vernon Weathersby Billy Pollina Kris Cruz Toledo
Starring	Marques Houston Omari Grandberry Jarell Houston De'Mario Thornton Dreux Frederic Jennifer Freeman Lil' Kim Michael "Bear" Taliferro Alani "La La" Vasquez Meagan Good Steve Harvey
Cinematography	David Hennings
Edited by	Earl Watson
Music by	Tyler Bates
Distributed by	Screen Gems (through Sony Pictures Releasing)
Release date	January 30, 2004 (2004-01-30)
Running time	95 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$8 million
Box office	$50.6 million

You Got Served is a 2004 American dance drama film written and directed by Chris Stokes, who was also the business manager of the performers who were film's main characters: recording artist Marques Houston and the boy band B2K. The plot follows a group of dancers, who take part in a street dancing competition. You Got Served was produced by Marcus Morton, Cassius Vernon Weathersby, Billy Pollina, and Kris Cruz Toledo, and filming took place Between May 1, 2003, and June 25, 2003. The Columbia Pictures division Screen Gems released the film on January 30, 2004—the weekend of Super Bowl XXXVIII. It opened at #1 at the box office during its opening weekend, and grossed $16 million in its first week.

Despite negative reviews from critics, the film was a financial success, grossing over $50 million against its paltry $8 million budget. It was followed by one sequel, You Got Served: Beat the World (2011).

Plot

In Los Angeles, California, Elgin and David lead their promising dance crew in street dancing battles at a warehouse owned by Mr. Rad, where they defeat another crew led by Vick. David and Elgin's crew win the battle and Vick's crew is disappointed.

To earn money for the battles, David and Elgin deliver for a drug lord named Emerald. They are challenged by Wade, a rich kid from Orange County, for $5,000. After winning another battle, Wade and his best friend Max goad Elgin into setting their battle for that night. Elgin borrows money from his grandmother for the battle.

Due to the amount of money on the line, Mr. Rad announces there will be no fighting during the battle and hires Mr. Chuck, his bodyguard. Nevertheless, a fight breaks out after David and Elgin realize their opponent has stolen their dance set, as their crew member Sonny betrayed them to join Wade's team, and are furious to lose for the first time. Crowing over his success, Wade delivers the titular line, "You're just mad... 'cause tonight you suckers got served!" Wade's crew takes over Mr. Rad's club as David and Elgin's crew depart.

Meanwhile, David and Liyah, Elgin's sister, are falling in love. Vick joins David and Elgin after his crew leaves him. While they are playing basketball together, Elgin gets a call from Emerald for a delivery of drugs. Elgin tries to call David, but Liyah turns off David's phone, leaving Elgin to do the job himself. Elgin is ambushed by local thugs who take Emerald's money, leaving Elgin hospitalized, in trouble with Emerald, and furious at David for not showing up on time.

The friends split up and form their own crews, but neither is as good as they were together. Elgin forbids Liyah to see David, ignoring her and David's desire to help him. Rico tells David and Elgin about the "Big Bounce," a $50,000 dance competition purportedly sponsored by MTV, which will provide the winning crew the opportunity to perform in a Lil' Kim video. Elgin sees this as a way to pay back Emerald and his grandmother. Attempts to bring Elgin and David together, particularly by Liyah, are fruitless, as they nearly come to blows.

Emerald gives Elgin only a couple of weeks to pay him back, warning Elgin not to cross him or he "will never walk, let alone dance again."

Many crews impress the judges in the Big Bounce qualifying rounds, including Wade's crew. Liyah talks with Mr. Rad about David and Elgin's problems, and Mr. Rad reveals that he has already taken care of the situation with Emerald. David's crew are eliminated after two slip-ups, while Elgin's crew makes it to the finals.

Lamenting his loss to Elgin's crew, David and Liyah learn that Lil’ Saint, a young boy who has been accepted into the crew through Rico, was killed in a drive-by. The next day, Rico tells Elgin that they should reunite the crew in honor of Lil' Saint. David arrives a few minutes later, asked by Liyah to try to end the feud, but explains that by the rules of the competition, they must complete with their initial crews. David and Elgin still refuse to forgive each other.

Elgin's crew, renamed "The Lil' Saints", compete at the Big Bounce finals, hosted by Wade Robson and Lil' Kim. The winner is announced, revealing a tie between "The Lil' Saints" and "Wade's Crew". Both crews refuse a tie, and Lil' Kim is advised by Mr. Rad, who declares a battle competition, "straight hood" with no rules, allowing other people to join the battling crews. David asks to join Elgin's crew, and with their friends’ support and back-up, Elgin forgives and allows David on the crew.

They battle Wade's crew, dedicating the battle to Lil' Saint, and win after receiving the crowd's loudest approval. Elgin gives his blessing for David and Liyah to be together. Wade and Max confront the winners, and David replies, "Y'all just mad, 'cause today, you suckas got served." As the crowd chants 'served', Wade and Max to leave in shame, David and Elgin celebrate their victory with their friends and family.

Cast

• Marques Houston – Elgin Barrett Eugene Smith III, leader of the Lil Saints
• Omari "Omarion" Grandberry – David, co-leader of the Lil Saints and Elgin's best friend who falls for Liyah
• Jarell "J-Boog" Houston – Rico
• De'Mario "Raz-B" Thornton – Vick, leader of a rival crew then later on joins Elgin & David's crew
• Dreux "Lil' Fizz" Frederic – Rashann
• Jennifer Freeman – Liyah Smith, Elgin's sister who has a crush on David and starts dating him
• Meagan Good – Beautifull
• Steve Harvey – Mr. Rad, Elgin and David longtime friend who owns & runs the warehouse club that they perform in
• Christopher Jones – Wade, a spoiled rich kid
• Jerome "Young Rome" Jones – Sonny, betrays David and Elgin's crew after a dispute about splitting the money they make
• Robert Hoffman – Max, Wade's best friend and lackey
• Malcolm David Kelley – TeShawn 'Lil' Saint' Miller, a young boy who joins David's crew but is later killed
• Jackée Harry – Mama Smith
• Babbal Kumar – dark dancer
• Wade Robson – Himself
• Lil' Kim – Herself
• La La Anthony – Herself
• Esther Scott - Elgin's Grandmother
• Michael Taliferro – Emerald, a crime boss whom Elgin and David work for
• Simon Rugala – choreographer
• Kevin Federline – Dancer
• Clifford McGhee – Dancer
• Dyneisha Rollins – Dancer
• Columbus Short – Dancer
• Harry Shum Jr. – Dancer
• Mike Bodden – Dancer
• Aaron Davis – Dancer

Soundtrack

You Got Served Soundtrack features mainly music by B2K, but also Marques Houston, and many others. There were some profanities in the soundtrack such as "Streets Is Callin'" but did not receive a PA label. The soundtrack was released on December 23, 2003. Also, there was a release of a music video for B2K's single "Badaboom" featuring Fabolous and Marques Houston was the guest appearance.

Release

The film was released on DVD by Sony Pictures on May 18, 2004. The film debuted for the first time on the Blu-ray format on October 4, 2016, in a triple feature release by Mill Creek Entertainment. The other two films in the bundle include Gridiron Gang (2006) and Stomp the Yard (2007).

Reception

You Got Served opened at the #1 spot in the United States and grossed $40.3 million; the total worldwide gross was $48.6 million. On Rotten Tomatoes it has an approval rating of 14% based on reviews from 71 critics.

Parodies

• You Got Served was parodied in the eighth-season episode of the animated series South Park entitled "You Got F'd in the A".
• The film Meet the Spartans parodies this movie in a scene where the Spartans face off the Immortals.
• 2009's Dance Flick also parodies this film.
• The 2004 video game The Bard's Tale had a parody scene with a dance off between zombies and skeletons.
• The show Robot Chicken parodies this film using characters from the anime Voltron. A second skit named "Young Black People on a Rhythm Team" also parodies the film, as well as the dance film genre in general.
• In the online game Guild Wars Nightfall, if the dance command is entered at the correct place before the final battle the boss will dance and instantly kill you. The words "You Got Served" appear afterwards.

Sequels

The official dance tutorials from the film were released shortly after the movie's release in 2004 on a tutorial DVD entitled You Got Served, Take It To The Streets.

You Got Served: Beat the World is a straight to DVD film released on June 21, 2011, starring Lil' C.

Beat the World is a film written and directed by Robert Adetuyi (writer of Stomp the Yard) released in 2011, by InnerCity Films. It was distributed in the United States on DVD by Sony Home Entertainment under the name You Got Served: Beat the World. The film stars Tyrone Brown, Mishael Morgan, Nikki Grant and Parkour artist Chase Armitage.

The original soundtrack was produced by Frank Fitzpatrick and released on Hip Hop Connect. It features KRS-One, K’naan, Ziggy Marley, Nneka, Les Nubians, MV Bill, Talib Kweli, Sway and Lina. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Debbie Allen Dance Academy through EarthTones.

In 2019, a direct sequel to the film titled You Got Served 2, was announced.

External links

• You Got Served at IMDb
• ‹The template AllMovie title is being considered for deletion.› You Got Served at AllMovie
• You Got Served at Box Office Mojo
• You Got Served Take It To The Streets at IMDb