Step Up 3-D (2010)

I can’t believe it, but I liked this movie.

A tight-knit group of street dancers, including Luke (Rick Malambri) and Natalie (Sharni Vinson), team up with NYU freshman Moose (Adam Sevani), and find themselves pitted against the world’s best hip hop dancers in a high-stakes showdown that will change their lives forever.

This was probably my first Step-Up movie I have ever seen in a theater. Hell this is my first time seeing a hip-hop dance movie in a theater. I saw the original Step Up, with my boy Channing Tatum, and thought it was pretty crappy, but this was a step up (no pun intended).

Now take it for granted, I did not see this in 3-D, which was a bummer, but none the less it was still great to watch. The visuals in this film are straight-up in your face perfect, because there are certain lights, and certain effects used on this camera to convey a lot of excitement, and it really does feel like your there.

The main reason why the visuals are great is because the dance numbers, are just bangin’. I can’t lie at all, I thought every dance sequence was just better than the last. Though some can be pointless at times. Like when the rivals follows one of the lead characters into a bathroom and instead of threatening him by just beating him up or knifing him, the rivals actually threatens him with dance… I really don’t why they use that to demoralize him, but hey… movie logic. But still the dance numbers mixed in with the incredible soundtrack, i mean damn, this film had me tapping my feet.

Dancing, music, and visuals aside, this film is terrible. The story feels like they wrote this back in 1983, didn’t update put it in a vault, and waited for 2010 to come around, and used that script for this movie. Within, the first 5 minutes you already know how this film is going to turn out, and the problem is they focus on the story too long. There were plenty of great dance numbers, but a lot of the time, the film focused on the romantic love story, that we all knew how it was going to turn out, so it was no big shock there.

However, I can take very predictable films, only if the acting is good. This, is not one of those films. All of the actors in this movie, with the exception of one kid, are just terrible. They were only hired for their dance moves, so I’ll give them that, but they just suck at delivering lines. I mean honestly, I started laughing at some of these lines here, just because they were so cheesily written and acted. Adam Sevani is the only really good actor in this film, and although he may seem a little homosexual, he’s got reasonable energy, and stage presence.

Consensus: If you want things like good acting, plot twists, character development, and credible pacing, then this film is not your choice, unless you enjoy the great dance sequences, mixed in with some dazzling visuals and bumpin’ soundtrack.

7/10=Rental!!!