I walked into the theater with visions of writing all of these great pithy put downs on Step Up. Thinking things like, “This is what 3D was made for,” “All hail James Cameron for bringing us 3D so we can get movies like Step Up 3D,” I had this really cool snarky review in my head but you know what? Step Up 3D is a fun ride and probably the best use of 3D I’ve seen all year. Seriously, no really, I think this movie is proof that there is a real difference between a movie that was conceived for and shot fully in 3D than sloppy, post conversion garbage like Clash of the Champions or Alice and Wonderland.
I’ve always liked the Step Up franchise for what it was. No it’s not cinema at its best, but they were always fun movies and I’m a sucker for most films about the creative process no matter how clichéd they may be. So in that respect this movie is in my wheelhouse but 3D? I couldn’t think of a more useless application (at least until Jackass 3D comes out), but the minute they showed a gorgeous shot of Times Square in 3D I was hooked.
The difference between unconverted 3D and films shot in 3D couldn’t be clearer. The depth of field really brought the club sequences alive without radically changing the aspect ratio of the image. There were times I actually felt like I was in Da Club.
I recently watched Step Up 2: The Streets on DVD and the one stand out in that movie was the goofy skinny white kid who had the big hair, mad dancing skills and weird name – Moose (Adam G. Sevani). He has a weird kind of charisma that I like so it was nice to see this movie elevate him to star status. Step Up is the movie that gave us Channing Tatum so this time out we get a Tatum clone in the form of bland Luke (Rick Malambri). It’s a shame that in all the marketing Rick is being touted as the star when it’s really Adam who this movie basically centers around, yet he barely gets mentioned in any of the PR.
I’m not going to go into plot details, as it doesn’t really matter. A movie like Step Up 3D is about the dancing, not the inane plot, the thing you have to ask yourself, “Is the dancing good?” The first couple of dance sequences like the opening battle with Moose, this ridiculous bathroom battle sequence, and the 1st competition battle were all pretty bad. There were moments in Moose’s opening battle that were pretty amazing to watch but the entire set up just made no sense. I mean I was just in NY Wednesday and people were randomly just breaking out into dance battles. And how does one “win” an spontaneous dance battle anyway?
The 2nd round of their big competition was absolutely amazing. Worth the price of admission alone, this is the scene that should turn Adam into a star, he’s just amazing in it and the fact that they used the thumping Hip Hop version of Frankie Valli’s Beggin didn’t hurt either. Later there’s a great moment where he gets to be Gene Kelly (without the rain) and I loved the little speech he gives at the end about the power of Dancing. It was delivered in a nice low-key way.
Step Up 3D doesn’t set the world on fire and it’s certainly not a genre defining movie, so if you don’t like these types of films, this isn’t going to change your mind. For the rest of us, it’s a fun ride, with a thumping soundtrack and really is a nice showcase for 3D.
Final Grade B
EM Review by
Michelle Alexandria
Originally posted 8.07.2010