FilmJuiceWhen the Wayans brothers turned their attentions to the
dance genre for 2009’s Dance Movie, it was clear that this type of film had now
become so synonymous with clichéd storylines and wooden acting that it was ripe
for parody. Step Up 3D may be the third instalment in the Step Up franchise (if
you can call it that) but it follows the tried and tested formula in this
genre.
Moose (Sevani) is
heading to his first day at New York University to study engineering thanks
gentle pushing from his parents who are more than happy that he’s given up
“that dancing stuff”. After getting temporarily distracted by some metallic
Nike trainers (trainers feature A LOT), he unwittingly gets pushed in the ring
of an impromptu dance battle. He holds his own against local dance legend
Jullian (Slaughter) and soon
catches the eye, and camera lens, of Luke (Malambri), a dancer who runs some sort of inner city housing
scheme for homeless but insanely talented dancers.
As Moose decides to know
lead a double life, Luke invites a sultry lady friend Natalie (Vinson) into the mix to prepare for a competition which
could see the fledging team win $100,000 and save themselves from financial
ruin. They quickly fall in love via a series of toe-curling nonsensical
exchanges but guess what? Natalie is not all she seems and quickly everyone
involved is forced to make a choice before the big contest that could change
all of their lives.
Save The Last Dance
may not have been the first of its kind but it definitely started the late-90s
trend for dance-based films. But where that succeeded with fine young actors
using dance as a ploy for their colliding worlds, every film since has focused
solely on the dancing and that is pretty much the only saving grace of Step Up
3D. The acting is wooden, the script is laughably awful and every
character is a walking caricature of who
middle class white people think street dancers are (urban, ethnic, no family
etc).
But honestly, no one sees a film like this for the
quality of acting, the producers know this and as a result it caters perfectly
to its audience. The dancing is
breathtakingly brilliant from free running, body popping, break dancing infants
and a man whose robot makes Peter Crouch look (even more) ridiculous. The set
pieces not only display some of the world’s best dancers but they also are
perfectly constructed and choreographed that only a person without a pulse
wouldn’t want to attempt to do The Worm on the way out. That’s why the acting
is bad; they’re not actors, they’re dancers and stupidly good ones too.
Unfortunately they felt the need jump on the bandwagon
and add 3D that only serves the purpose to have a pair of hands, sweat and
water fly at you and not much else. Really
not necessary, because the spectacular dancing is enough to make your
eyeballs fall out, although the script may make you rip your ears off anyway.
