Movie Review: Step Up 3D

Memorable dancing, forgettable story - <i>Step Up 3D</i>. Photo / Supplied

Rating: 2/5
Verdict: Memorable dancing, forgettable story

The third instalment from the Step Up dance series, like recent British film Street Dance, has turned to 3D technology to communicate just how exhilarating dance on the big screen can be. It is a successful approach, without question the dancing is thrilling, but unfortunately when the dancing stops the drama isn't nearly as impressive.

Step Up 3D is cliched and predictable, as you would expect, but it is also a film of two halves, on one hand passionate dancing and high energy dance sequences, on the other, characters supposedly "born to dance" but who provide soulless acting performances.

Jon Chu (from Step Up 2: The Streets) is back on board and the setting this time round is New York City. The film follows The House of Pirates, a crew of hip-hop dancers who live and work together in a warehouse owned by the group's leader Luke (Malambri). Late on mortgage repayments, with the bank threatening to sell their warehouse, the only way Luke can think of to save his "family" is to win the lucrative World Jam competition.

The Pirates are joined on their quest by a couple of newcomers; NYU freshman Moose (Sevani) who struggles to manage his studies and his dancing, and is constantly in trouble for neglecting his lifelong best friend Camille (Alyson Stoner), and the mysterious dancer Natalie (Home and Away's Sharni Vinson) who catches Luke's eye.

Following a pretty basic formula it's easy to see how the dance competition and the romances are going to be resolved. The script is problematic; it is cheesy and clunky making it hard for the actors to communicate any substance or depth, a hindrance for a film attempting to convey something profound about the power of dance.

If you're just interested in dancing, then Step Up 3D is worth a visit, the combination of slick and athletic break dancing and a soundtrack featuring Alicia Keys, Busta Rhymes, Estelle, Flo Rida and David Guetta makes it hard to sit still in your seat. If poor acting bothers you then even the dancing and soundtrack may not keep you in the theatre. You do have to wonder whether the Step Up franchise has used up all its moves.

STEP UP 3D
Cast: Rick Malambri, Sharni Vinson, Adam Sevani
Director: Jon Chu
Running time: 106 mins
Rating: PG (low level offensive language)

-TimeOut