Sexy Dance

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.

In Baltimore, the troublemaker and street dancer Tyler Gage (Channing Tatum) lives with his foster parents in an Afro-American lower class neighborhood. His best friends are Mac Carter (Damaine Radcliff) and his little brother Skinny Carter (De'Shawn Washington) and they use to hang around together, going to parties and stealing cars. After being expelled of a party, the trio breaks in the Maryland School of Arts and commits vandalism, destroying the stage. Tyler is arrested and sentenced to 200 hours of community service in the school and Director Gordon (Rachel Griffiths) assigns him to help the janitor cleaning the place. One afternoon, the ballet dancer Nora Clark (Jenna Dewan) sees Tyler dancing in the parking area and when her partner Andrew (Tim Lacatena) has a strain and Tyler offers to help her in the choreography, she accepts the offer; they rehearsal and become close to each other while Tyler becomes friend of the students Miles Darby (Mario) and Lucy Avila (Drew Sidora). When Andrew returns, Tyler that is known for quitting everything he starts gives up dancing and leaves Nora alone. After an incident, Tyler has to decide to follow his dream or return to his life of rebel loser.

"Step Up" was a wonderful and delightful surprise for me. The heartwarming romantic story shows a perfect chemistry between Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan, supported by a magnificent cast and awesome songs and choreographies of dance. There are also drama and tragedy, funny moments and I recalled Alan Parker's "Fame" and "Center Stage" with the students following their dreams in an art school. The characters are nice, the actors and actresses are excellent and I have really loved this movie. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Ela Dança, Eu Danço" ("She Dances, I Dance")

What a wonderful surprise to find such a terrific film of dance and music in STEP UP and the actors/dancers were out of this world. Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan are magic on the screen and the music is sensational. My friend, Alia, from UCLA, had raved about this film and wanted me to see it, and I am so glad that I did. I found not only the music and dancing, but the story set in the jungle of a big city of young black men and a young white man struggling to survive and come up with fulfilling lives, to be a journey that is true to the lives of so many young men and women today in metropolitan cities in the USA.

Duane Adler and Melissa Rosenberg have created a film in STEP UP that just hits your heart and soul with the character development created through the actors music and dance, and the sets and costumes which fit each character. I didn't want this film to end, but the last scene is just the one you wanted to see and feel. With STEP UP, you have a strong story, incredible music, wonderful young actors in a diverse world, and the hope that now their young lives can really begin. Loved this film.

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.

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.