“We are crashing! We we are crashing!”

Justin’s rating: Brought to you by Chumbawumba!

Justin’s review: Boy, I never in a million years thought we’d be sitting here in 2026 nostalgic not for a specific brand of comedy movie popular during a certain time period but comedy movies, period. I miss going to the theaters for a good laugh and growing my library of comfort classics. So now I console my nostalgia-ridden psyche that there are still plenty of unseen comedies of yore that I can discover.

Will 2009’s Fired Up be one of them? Oh H-E-C-K yes!

While it may initially invite comparisons to Bring It On, mostly for the “cheerleader” theme, Fired Up skews more toward American Pie and Wet Hot American Summer in tone — but with PG-13 softening the more risqué edges*.

High school football jocks Shawn (Nicholas D’Agosto) and Nick (Eric Christian Olsen) are absolute best buddies who are energetic, goofy, and very obsessed with the female gender. So in their eternal pursuit of smooches, they decide that the logical and sane course is to infiltrate a cheerleader camp full of 300 girls to see if they might be able to meet them all rather than go to an uncomfortable football camp with zero girls.

The plan is to hook up for a while and then bail the camp a week before the end so they can go back home to a friend’s party. But when the guys start falling in love and really want to see the super-evil Panther squad defeated, well, they might go all the way.

All the way! All all the way!

Now, yes, normally these goons would be the villains who we’d hiss at while a scrappy ragtag group of losers would ultimately hoist them by their own petard** by the end of the third act. Here, they defy stereotyping by being just nice enough, just witty enough, and just silly enough that we end up rooting for these womanizing muscle-heads.

I also think it’s their Ferris Bueller approach to life: Throttle forward, no shame, all confidence. It also helps that they look like Hollywood teenage heartthrobs.

The snappy back-and-forth repartee between Nick and Shawn immediately made me warm up to this movie. I love a good buddy flick with great chemistry, even if the premise is shallow, and Fired Up hits all three of those counts.

But you know what I love more? Actual laughs in my comedy, and this one has a bounty of them. Making fun of cheerleading is an easy target, but hey, it works. And toss in plenty of snarky asides, wildly enthusiastic speeches, Shawn’s crafty cheerleader sister, a med student who calls himself “Dr. Nick,” John Michael Higgins being 100% amazing, the expected brewing romances that happen at camp, the weirdness of the other male cheerleaders, a really good supporting cast, and, well, it wasn’t hard to find myself smiling and chuckling throughout this ride.

Want a breezy good time with a couple of doofs running through movie tropes that way-too-serious people today would harrumph at? Fired Up can’t wait to fill the void in your comedy-free life. You might even find yourself deeply respecting cheerleading.

No, not really. Not not not really.

*And yes, there’s an “unrated” edition of this movie to seek out if you’re so inclined. Some people consider that the real version. I’m not getting in the middle of that argument, probably because nobody cares.

**Or jock strap.

Intermission!

• “Your best bet is to curl up into a ball until they stop beating you. I’m only telling you this because I think I love you.”
• Don’t drive away from angry dads into a dead-end street
• “I’m not mad at that belly ring, either.”
• The Tigers do not have the best cheerleader squad
• “You gotta risk it to get the biscuit.”
• It’s nice to have a best friend who remembers names for you.
• “We could take a dump in our pants and do better than last year.”
• “You can winky-tink on my face, just don’t tell me it’s raining.”
• “After cheer camp, you won’t even need your own bathroom.” “What does that even mean?”
• She’s totally open to steroids?
• “Just wait until their cycles match up, you’ll miss these days.”
• The fingers in his mouth: “All right, now you’re taking advantage of me.”
• That’s a whole lot of synchronized stretching
• “Why are you still here?” “You like canopy beds?”
• “‘Panthers out?’ What are they, a knife gang?”
• “You’re giving us a lot to process here.”
• ‘Sup Eagle!
• “How do you spell fired up?” “F U!” “No, not really.”
• Cheer camp has the worst cafeteria food
• Calling yourself “doctor” while you’re still in pre-med is a choice
• “I think you’re being dramatic.” “Well I never!”
• Size 10… in crocs!
• “Go ahead and clap. Mediocrity deserves applause. Why don’t we go find a Ford Focus and clap around it!”
• OK I laughed pretty hard when the whole camp watched Bring It On and quoted it verbatim
• “I love the smell of pom-pom in the morning!”
• The blue-eyed brunette on the Tigers is my favorite low-key quipper
• “I want to cut the blonde one.” what what what what what
• “I actually know these girls… as friends… and I CARE!”
• Why is the olive oil like 20 feet up on a shelf?
• “Uggh Fraggle Rock!”
• “I’ll be watching you.” “Yeah, that’s exactly what an audience member does at a performance-based event.”
• Poppy shilling for Staples is perfection
• “I’m new to this but this seems like a lot of talking during the routine.”
• Why would the performance stage be surrounded by a moat deep enough to swim?
• “I can take life as fast as I can give it.”
• “I’m just sayin’!”
• Stick around for some funny outtakes during the credits