The saving grace of Fired Up! is that the movie knows what a vapid piece of shit it appears to be. Just like Bring It On, the best cheerleading movie ever, Fired Up! is in on the joke. And it has to be, to see any success at all with a plot about two mildly attractive teenage boys who attend a national cheerleading camp with the simple goal of getting laid.

High-school seniors Shawn and Nick have gone through just about every willing (straight) girl at their school (and when I say gone through, I mean it literally, as in penetrated). It’s almost summer, they need fresh meat, and the idea of going to football camp with their curse-happy coach and drunken teammates sounds about as sexy as sticking leeches on their dicks.

So they pull a Zack Morris and scheme a way onto their school’s struggling cheer squad just in time to attend cheer camp. And wouldn’t you know it, they’re the only straight dudes in the whole place (who aren’t wearing mascot costumes 24/7, anyway), so of course the two of them proceed to plow through the female population.

What I appreciated most was that even though the dudes are complete players, the girls see through their ploy and let them have their fun—though they’d happily sleep with either guy even without the trite comparisons of eyes to stars and all that shit. These girls know what they’re doing (thank Christ), and they wanna get laid as much as anyone. And then, you know, of course one of the boy sluts ends up falling in love. Of course! But whatever, it’s cute.

Besides that, the jokes are actually funny. Sometimes they’re juvenile, yeah, but I have the sense of humor of a 12-year-old boy, so I even laughed at those (like when Nick rhymed Rick with Dick—oooh, good one!). All the gay sex jokes started getting a little uncomfortable after a while, though, since I was sitting next to some kids’ grandparents. I’m pretty sure they didn’t think it was funny at all. So maybe don’t bring grandma to this one. recommended

Megan Seling is The Stranger's managing editor. She mostly writes about hockey, snacks, and music. And sometimes her dog, Johnny Waffles.

9 replies on “On Screen”

  1. The main thing that stood out to me from the preview is how it kind of has 90210 syndrome where all the actors look like they’re in their mid to late 20’s when they’re supposed to be high school seniors.

    I hope that’s part of being in on the joke.

  5. @ TheMisanthrope,

    I can top that. When my mother went to Arizona State U. in the late 50’s, early 60’s they had a student who was 37 years old and still a freshman…and, yes, he did start college at the age of 18. He was the star of the football team and after spending half his life in college, still couldn’t read. As in completely illiterate. My mother despised him with a vengeance because every class he took was graded on a very steep curve and her A+ was dropped to a C so the moron could pass. I think she actually started actively plotting his demise after that. The only thing that saved his life was some sort of athletic program reform which forced him off the team.

  6. I’ll have to admit that the line, “Chumbawumba – it’s the soundtrack to my life” (which I’ve only seen in the previews BTW) kind of made me chuckle.

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