Review: 'Let's Go Jets!' is a heartwarming Japanese underdog film
Should you watch this at weekday movie ticket prices? Yes.
Should you watch this at weekend movie ticket prices? No.
Score: 2.9/5
Secret ending? No.
Running time: 121 minutes (~2 hours)
“Let’s Go Jets” is a Japanese comedy drama in Japanese with English subtitles. It’s based on the real life Jets cheer dance team from Fukui Commercial High School in Japan and their victories in the National Dance Alliance (NDA) National Championship in the United States.
The film revolves around a Japanese high school’s cheer dance team which is on the verge of being shut down. But the teacher in charge perseveres, and with a new cheer dance team, they aim to compete in the United States.
“Let’s Go Jets” is direct by Hayato Kawai and written by Tamio Hayashi. It stars Suzu Hirose (Hikari Tomonaga), Yuki Amami (Kaoruko Saotome), Ayami Nakajo (Ayano Tamaki), Mackenyu (Kosuke Yamashita), and Hirona Yamazaki (Yui Kito). It is rated PG.
“Let’s Go Jets” feels distinctly like a television series mainly because of the set design and production values. Coupled with the lack of music for many of the scenes and the fact that the setting, Fukui Commercial High School, is supposed to be in a small town, there are times when “Let’s Go Jets” shows its budget constraints. However, where it really shines is with the dance sequences, which are energetic enough to feel authentic but has enough girls of different sizes to make it feel realistic.
Highlights
Heartfelt dance sequences
The dance sequences in “Let’s Go Jets” lack that slick polish that is frequently found in musicals, something which this movie is not. But that’s why it feels like it could actually be achievable by real people— precisely because it doesn’t look perfect. Being based on a real story, you get the sense that these are actual dances that high school students can perform. There’s nothing wrong with the execution here, it’s all about the treatment.
Kaoruko Saotome is amusing
The cheer dance team’s teacher, Kaoruko Saotome (Yuki Amami) is the strict but quirky teacher who’s a staple in Japanese dramas. Even though she’s a familiar archetype, she still manages to entertain through a combination of strictness, determination, enthusiasm, and wackiness. The journey is much for her as it is for her students, and you can’t help but cheer on this heavily disadvantaged underdog.
Heartwarming story
For all its interpersonal drama and glitzy cheer dances, you know that this is a story about a group of girls who dared to dream. The one quality that they all share is their dogged determination to achieving their goal. This is why we want to see them succeed, because it warms our hearts to see all that perseverance pay off.
Letdowns
Poor pacing
“Let’s Go Jets” gets off to a good start, but flounders for quite long in the middle of the film. It gets sidetracked by the various personal stories of the characters, which are essential for you to understand them better. Unfortunately, they don’t quite warrant the screen time that’s devoted to pursuing those mini arcs.
Oddly corny at times
The film is fairly true-to-life, but then you get these odd moments where a character behaves as if he or she is in an anime. It’s incredibly jarring to see someone behaving like they will glow with the burning fury of justice and determination, when in reality they’re just in an awkward pose. The humour really doesn’t gel well at times.
“Let’s Go Jets” is a heartwarming film about the underdog.
“Let’s Go Jets” opens in cinemas:
– 16 March, 2017 (Singapore)
Marcus Goh is a Singapore television scriptwriter, having written for Police & Thief, Incredible Tales, Crimewatch, and Point of Entry. He’s also a Transformers enthusiast and avid pop culture scholar. You can find him on social media as Optimarcus and on his site. The views expressed are his own.
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