Hip Hop-eration: DVD Review

Hip Hop-eration: DVD Review

Rating: G
Released by Roadshow Home Ent

Hip-hop, some hip-operated on OAPs, the hip paradise of Waiheke Island and a NZ feel all wrap up to make this Kiwi bred documentary a feel-good outing of the highest order.

Following a group of some 80 year olds of varying backgrounds, the doco follows the band and their irresistible leader Billie Jordan as they pursue their dream of being centre stage at the Las Vegas World Hip Hop Dance tournament.

Gently meshing together a historical background of a yesteryear and fusing it with the kind of sensibilities that made Young @ Heart such a hit all those years back. It's not quite as emotionally affecting as Young@Heart managed to be though it's suffused with such a Kiwi touch that's hard to deny.

When Billie gets the call from the Las Vegas organisers to say they're in, her typically low key reaction ("Bullpucky") sums up the approach to it all by documentary maker Bryn Evans.

Equally the subjects she chooses to concentrate on weave a tale-telling tapestry that hints at former lives within; from the pensioner who reads Haydn to the OAP who wants to model, these are Kiwis that will force many of us to head off and contact our parents to say hi.

The love-fest is cemented when the Otara based Krash hip-hop crew join forces with the Hip-Hoperationers by giving them their support, giving both the Otara gang a new focus and the OAPs a sign they're inspiring others.

It's clearly a message of Life is for Living and not exactly a new one to tote, but for moments such as one OAP grinning with glee after proving a crack-shot with a sub automatic rifle at a US range to comments like "We'll get you to Las Vegas - even if it's in an urn", there's no chance you won't be won over by this feel-good doco that rocks to its own beat.

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