Director: Jon Chu
Starring: Rick Malambri, Sharni Vinson, Adam G. Sevani, Alyson Stoner
Released: 06/08/10
Rating: 12A
Cliché ridden and almost impossibly unoriginal, Step Up 3D should be terrible. But it’s really not!
Combining the best 3D I’ve ever seen in a movie (sure the colour drop is still there, but it’s certainly not as bad as has been seen elsewhere) and jaw-dropping choreography, this film is a brilliant dance movie, and it’s entirely unashamed to be nothing more.
While I haven’t seen the first two instalments in the trilogy, it’s easy enough to pick up the plot instantly, and the opening sequence of the film introduces the key players – two freshman year NYU students trying to put their childish dance obsession behind them and get on with real life, and 2 rival dance gangs – the Pirates and the Samurais.
In the underground world of Step Up 3D, dance is everything. The team’s are closer than family, they eat, sleep and breathe for the competition.
The plot itself is incredibly by the numbers, it’s your basic sports movie, with our team, the Pirates, working their way through dance battle after battle on their way to WorldJam, the biggest competition ever, where – you guessed it – they will inevitably meet the Samurais again.
In the meantime group leader and amateur filmmaker Luke (Malambri) meets the enigmatic but beautiful Natalie (Vinson), falls for her despite the fact she’s not all she seems, and the relationship goes through testing times.
This then is not a movie to see if you want in depth story or characters. They’re just not there. But if you want to see human bodies contorted in ways that shouldn’t even be possible, and dancing that is just beyond belief, then this really is the movie to see.
In the past I’ve been very outspoken about my opinions on 3D. I’ve never really felt it has been worth it, as the colours are never as vivid as 2D filmmaking, and what you gain in return is never enough to actually justify it. Step Up has gone a long way to rectifying this, and the set pieces – particularly one of the early battles which takes place on a waterlogged mat – truly look awesome (and I use that in the truest sense of the word). If you see this, then do yourself the favour and pay the extra for the 3D, it will be worth it.
Upping the ante every single time a new dance number begins you find yourself pumping up for the final battle, which really doesn’t disappoint.
I started by telling you this wasn’t terrible. I’ll finish by telling you what it was: While as a movie it was certainly nothing original, as a dance-flick it was nothing short of straight up spectacular.
James Gordon
“While as a movie it was certainly nothing original, as a dance-flick it was nothing short of straight up spectacular.”
As a bit of a dance film connoisseur, I would recommend the Turn It Up films…