Despite the long runtime (about 2 hours), coming-of-age film Let’s Go Jets! is a feel-good flick that motivates the achievers and dreamers out there. There’s nothing better than walking out of a movie feeling happy and cheerful, which the film has brilliantly achieved.
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It’s a triumphant story about a group of high school cheer dance team from a countryside, starting out as beginners who emerged the champions at the international competition held in the United States. What makes this David and Goliath narrative even more moving is that this is based on a true story of the small-town Japanese high school club.
Bubbly and spirited lead character Hikari Tomonaga (Suzu Hirose) joins the newly-formed cheer dance club thinking she would be able to cheer on her crush. With no background in dancing or cheerleading (although cheer dance and cheerleading are separate groups), she, and many of the newcomers joins the ‘foundation’ group to learn the ropes while team leader Ayano Tamaki (Ayami Nakajo), Yui Kito (Hirona Yamazaki) and Reika Murakami (Yurina Yanagi) learned the more complicated dance steps.
With the help of their no-nonsense coach Kaoruko Saotome (Yuki Amami), these girls learned that it is their passion that kept them going, despite the many failures and setbacks they faced as a team, and individually. Finally, as final-year students at Fukui Chuo High School, they managed to fight through the tough competition and emerged as world champions.
18-year-old Hirose seems like the ideal actress to play the cheerful Hikari who often cheers on her teammates and motivate them in her little ways to make sure the cheer dance spirit is kept alive in the club. A humble girl who never wants to steal the limelight, somehow becomes the team’s pillar of strength. The audience is drawn to Hikari’s infectious enthusiasm, and they naturally become the fans of the Jets team.
As the film starts from the very beginning of the formation of the team right up to their victorious moment, there are many moments and subplots that drag the pacing of the film, which became a little too monotonous at times. We all know how the story turns out, which is another reason why it should not play too much on each member’s backstory and focus on the team’s transformative journey instead. Like a lifeless student sitting through boring lectures, you are forced to be patient with the Jets team, seeing the girls go through Year 1, Year 2 and finally Year 3.
Despite the long runtime (about 2 hours), coming-of-age film Let’s Go Jets! is a feel-good flick that motivates the achievers and dreamers out there. There’s nothing better than walking out of a movie feeling happy and cheerful, which the film has brilliantly achieved.
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