Step Up 3D – Review

There’s one thing director Jon M. Chu promised in interviews prior to filming Step Up 3D,  that he was going to make good use of the 3D technology and create specific dance routines just for the format. With that, Chu delivers tenfold. The splattering of color, lights, and outfits all look like a motion poster from artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, with a little Andy Warhol pizazz.

This movie plays out much like a horror film; we string together some plot, some melodramatic backstabbing, just to get to the next dance routine. The movie is pure eye-candy, from the aforementioned spectacular dancing to the 3D, Chu makes good use of color, a rarity now days, and we get pretty actors. Step Up 3D is possibly the zenith of this new age dance genre, but it also represents the plastic nature of the scene, and perhaps it’s time for the genre to bottom out.

It really is trivial to chat about the plot; we get the typical love interest, we get some double-crossing, and the goal of a dance tournament, where the winnings will save the character’s home. Some of it is okay, as we’re able to ride along until the next dance battle. Rick Malambri and Sharni Vinson are warm and personable, yet the other main leads are a little flat. Despite the colorful and active dance sequences, Chu is oddly a little flat in some scenes when he has to focus on the melodrama. It’s doesn’t suck the life out of you, but at times, it’s all quite cheesy, something that feels like the culture has little to offer outside all of the handshakes and titled hats. It’s a New York thing. Yet the film doesn’t have that NYC edginess, as it’s all cookie-cutter drama in the music video lifestyle. Regardless, Chu made a promise and he delivered. Besides all of the beauty of the 3D, the dance numbers are some of the best I’ve seen this side of Michael Jackson, something Adam Sevani offers. Luckily, we get lots of these wonderful and killer dance scenes and that makes for a 90-minute circus Flo Rida can rap too.

Rating:

Jon Peters

I love film. That is all.

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