Shut up and dance
By John Esther
Using a screenplay a high school student in a screenwriting class may as well (poorly) have written, the latest installment in the Step Up franchise sits high on the entertainment barometer simply for the vast array of talented dancers and spectacular numbers the movie has no shortage of providing in digital 3D.
Placed on a new stage (so to write) of their lives, Step Up 2 The Streets returners Moose (Adam G. Sevani) and Camille (Alyson Stoner) are entering New York University to study engineering and leave all that dance nonsense behind. But what do you know, no sooner do Moose's parents -- the only parents present in the film -- depart and Moose gets pulled into a dance competition where he predictably prevails, in the process losing his backpack, which he does not seem to notice, and attracting the attention of Luke (Rick Malambri), who takes Moose back to his pad and introduces him to his way/ward-en of life.
Luke is the head of the dance gang, The Pirates. A dancer and amateur filmmaker, Luke also runs The Vault, a huge Brooklyn loft where over a dozen young adults Pirates live and dance all day -- eschewing any of that fighting, showering, cleaning, cooking, defecating, drinking, drugging or fornicating a group of economically-challenged, physically-minded young adults would normally do if they lived in a place like The Vault.
(Moose's willingness to leave Manhattan in a stranger's car and head for Brooklyn will probably cause concern for any parent about to drop his or her kid off at college in the upcoming weeks.)
In one of the many pedestrian plot movements provided by co-screenwriters Amy Adelson and Emily Meyer, The Vault is under threat of repossession and, if The Pirates do not win the big upcoming world dance contest (where it seems only local dance gangs will compete), rich boy and head of the rival House of Samurai dance gang, Julien (Joe Slaughter), will get Luke's family place. Yes, it is win the contest or lose the place. First off, how about selling your unnecessary car, Luke, to gain some time with the rent?
Of course, the wide-eyed Moose joins The Pirates, seemingly putting his engineering studies and his unbeknown high school sweetheart aside so he can win it for his new family. Essentially, Moose bounces from one family to another without any personal maturity in between or after.
Then there is the rich girl, Natalie (Sharni Vinson). She can and will dance for The Pirates and into Luke's heart, but she has a big secret that could ruin it for the gang. Of course, in the end, we know she will not.
Plotting along at an infantile level, the story here is nothing new and hardly means anything. One can hardly fault the rampant rancid acting because it is probably the vapid writing plus derelict direction by Jon M. Chu, who seems to be incapable of directing any of the actors and extras when they are not dancing, at fault. The group reaction shots are embarrassing.
Yet the storyline is beside the point; what counts is the dancing and there is plenty of it.
Filled with fun numbers and infectious energy, the only considerable value in Step UP 3D is the dancing quality by the sheer number of talented dancers -- from the leads to the extras there is so much talent here. Similar to the Los Angeles theater scene where there are so many struggling talented actors who never get her or his big break in the movies, one feels sorry for those who did not get a speaking part in Step Up 3D and thus less recognition.
However, for those who did speak, they said a lot more with those body parts below their neck. The leads are phenomenal dancers (at least on camera), especially Malambri, Vinson, Martin and Facundo Lombard (The Santiago Twins), Keith Stallworth (Jacob), So You Think You Can Dance's Stephen "tWitch" Boss (Jason), and the striking Kendra Andrews (Anala), who looks and moves like she belongs in a Twilight Saga movie.
Sure the sets, choreography and camera work are all hyped up for dancing spectacle and they barely break a sweat, but the incredible young talented dancers moving across, up, down, back and forth on the dance floor make Step UP 3 D worth donning those annoying plastic glasses. (By the way, too bad they should have stayed on the dance floor. The movie's one dance number in the street is obnoxious).
One could imagine what the dancers could achieve if they consistently had really good dance music, filled with complex beats and deep lyrics rather than oldie and moldie Top 40 samplings and juvenile lamentations about such difficulties as being a pimp.
Energetic and inspiring with some pretty good 3D effects, Step UP 3D should not win any screenplay awards (who knows, dumber things have happened), but it sure is a lot of fun and it will probably get a few overweight kids out of the tight theater seats and into a tight dance class/gang.
