Step Up

You've seen it all – feel-good story of deprived, delinquent kid finding the meaning of life, dedicated effort culminating in an upbeat dance finale, rich-girl-poor-guy routine, and a whole bunch of familiar situations. But, if the dance and music are good, you'll tend to forget the improbable, unlikely, illogical, contrived story and plot. Given the lame script, top choreographer Anne Fletcher's first crack at directing didn't come off too badly, partly because of the wise use of very short scenes. As to the dance routines, with her credentials, you wouldn't expect anything less than good, and the movie does deliver in that department. The stimulating fusion of hip hop and ballet is well synchronized with fusion in the music. While the attention would obviously be on the showcase number that the protagonists are developing, I also like one particular scene at a gig, when the two sidekicks sing on stage while the two leads do their thing on the dance floor. This scene has the beauty of exciting spontaneity not seen elsewhere in the movie.

"I'm fighting, for something that's real for the first time in my life!"

When Anne Fletcher made her directorial debut way back in 2006 no one imagined that this small budget film with a relatively unknown cast would end up grossing over 100 million in the US and inspiring a franchise that currently stands at five movies. It wasn't received warmly by the critics due to its cliché storyline and corny dialogues, but audiences dug it. I never was interested in the franchise and this was my first time actually sitting down and watching one. The main reason was because I knew this was Channing Tatum's break out role. He had done a couple of movies before with smaller roles, but this was the first time he was given a lead role. Tatum has delivered some strong roles recently (Foxcatcher being his most impressive) so I wanted to go back and revisit some of his earlier work. I was surprised I actually ended up enjoying this film as much as I did and I think it is largely due to Tatum's charisma. He didn't deliver a great performance, but he definitely carried the film with his charm making it enjoyable. The dancing was also pretty solid although I am not much of an expert in that area. The main problems with Step Up revolve around the clichéd screenplay and dull subplots that almost derailed the film completely, but the charisma from Tatum and his excellent chemistry with Jenna Dewan make this an entertaining viewing experience. It's been 9 years since Tatum and Dewan met on set for this movie and they are still together in real life. The chemistry was really there.

Step Up is one of those films that you know is formulaic, unoriginal, and without any great technical achievements, but you still find it enjoyable due to the charismatic lead performances. You could file Step Up under the romance/dance genre along with other films as Bring it On, Save the Last Dance, and Honey. The screenplays are perhaps the weakest thing about these films, but you still can find them enjoyable when the lead characters deliver charismatic performances and know how to dance. That is the case with Channing Tatum who plays a troubled young teen who lives with his foster parents and spends a lot of time in the streets. One night out with his friends he ends up vandalizing an arts school and gets caught. He is ordered to do 200 hours of community service as payment for the damages he caused. At the school he meets a young student from a wealthy family played by Jenna Dewan who dreams of becoming a dancer. When her dancing partner gets injured, he offers to help, and the plot evolves from there.

The story works best when it focuses on the two lead characters rehearsing and dancing together, but when the film shifts its focus on other subplots revolving around their friends the story losses some of its appeal. There is unnecessary conflict introduced in the film that is resolved rather easily and in a predictable way. There is also a tragic scene that takes place near the end of the film that felt out of place (the melodrama is poorly handled by the screenwriters). However, the final dance scene is one of the best in the movie so it does end in a positive note. Despite its predictable storyline and formulaic premise, Step Up is still an enjoyable film. Not good enough however to get me interested in the sequels.

Choreographer and now director Anne Fletcher hits the mother lode with this gem of a dance flick! Having painfully seen similar dance-themed teen movies in the past (Take the Lead, Save the Last Dance, etc.), Step Up does justice to its genre by not pulling any stops in delivering a truly enjoyable movie. Hindi nagtipid sa pasikat.

Unlike similar movies where the audience agonizingly waits through scene after scene of boredom for a grand dance finale (which usually fails to enthrall anyway), Step Up treats the audience to several impressive, memorable sequences thoughtfully scattered throughout the movie. Finally, we are entertained by a dance flick where the leads (Jenna Dewan and Channing Tatum) are both beautiful to watch, have good chemistry (enough to sustain the kilig factor) and can really deliver the moves.

Dewan is a superb dancer; she has a fabulously fit body, not the anorexic ballerina type, and she dons her outfits exceptionally well for someone who's only 5'3". It was also amazing to watch such a tall, gorgeous man like Tatum move the way he does (it must help that the boy knows his Kung Fu!). His deadpan facial expression makes his line deliveries unexpectedly funny. The supporting cast also amply sustains the rest of the story. Step Up churns out enough high points that you pardon its hiccuppy subplots and scene-stealing extras.

While several portions of this movie were textbook cliché, I thoroughly enjoyed every second of it. Usually I don't bother with mainstream, commercial movies that are so obviously and unabashedly manufactured to sell to a teenage audience, but I had seen Channing Tatum in She's the Man (another movie that I was hesitant to see, but didn't regret it afterward), and thought he was absolutely gorgeous! Step Up would not have been as good as it was without him. He made even some of the more awkward lines of the script sound original and I really enjoyed watching him bust a move. Several parts were genuinely amusing and heart-warming despite the well-worn story of a bad boy from the wrong side of the tracks who falls in love with the uptight rich dancer. Overall, it was pure fluffy entertainment, like Save the Last Dirty Dancing. Just don't go in expecting much or analyze it too deeply and you'll enjoy it as much as I did.

Going into the movie with the right expectations, I somewhat liked this movie. Like most reviewers who have seen this movie, I fully agree that the plot was razor thin, clichéd, and I could predict every plot twist from the very beginning of the movie. But, the dancing sequences were VERY well done, and I really enjoyed the fusion of classical and hip-hop dance (both which I enjoy watching). The music/soundtrack of the movie was also very good, which made the "drama" scenes more bearable. The leads (Jenna Dewan and Channing Tatum) were OK as actors, but their dancing throughout the movie was impressive and mesmerizing.

All in all, a movie worth watching if you like to watch good dance sequences, and this movie is MUCH MUCH MUCH better than "You Got Served" in terms of the plot and drama. Then again, that doesn't say much, does it? =P