Step Up 3D

"Step Up 3D" maybe the best 3D movie since "Avatar". You laugh. For one thing "Step Up 3D" was filmed in 3D—no post production enhancement. Seeing amazing street dancing is visually stunning in 3D. One distinguishing sequence has Moose (Adam G. Sevani) splashing his moves on the water flooded stage. In another electrifying sequence the dance troop Pirates move in unison in LED lit costumes. One sees "Step Up 3D" for the 3D—entirely.

No ground breaking storytelling here. Amy Anderson and Emily Meyer's screenplay barely eclipses perfunctory. This is the coming of age story of misunderstood young people overcoming the odds to compete in the First Annual World Dance Jam. The dialogue is awful. We endure the speaking interludes throughout the movie to get to the dancing, which is spectacular. Director Jon Chu has a dramatic sense of line and chaos with a provocative and flourishing visual style.

The dancing is spectacular. Jon Chu has assembled some of the best street dancers in the world. The Santiago Twin (spirited Martin and Facundo Lombard) just kill in the World Dance Jam. Chadd Smith as Vlad, whose specialty is the Robot dance, is absolutely awesome—in 3D the effect is mesmerizing. Sharni Vinson, who plays stunningly beautiful and ripped nomad street dancer Natalie, is elevation and grace combined. The capoeira practice she performs with Luke (cool and handsome Rick Malambri) is high velocity precision. Chu is also a student of the classic musical. He films an homage to "Singing in the Rain" in a single take with Moose and his almost girlfriend Camile (Alyson Stoner) as they duet down the street. Chu also provides such visual texture and touch in the World Dance Jam itself mixing the Wushu influenced Asian street dancers along with the breakers and the poppers.

Even with the corny dialogue and lame story lines, the opening sequence gets it right. Luke (Malambri) runs a shelter and dance studio for down and out street dancers- his parents' legacy. Luke's passion is film-making. As the movie opens we see Luke film interviews with his dancers. This wonderfully captures that dancers are never more present to life or have more joy than when they are dancing. Authentic passion transcends the written words, and is inspired. In a roundabout way "Step Up 3D" is at its best when it is in the moment in 3D, Otherwise, we are left with that Moose is too stupid, albeit a brilliant engineering student, to see that Camile is in love with him, and that he really loves her. Mysterious Natalie may not be who she appears, and that she and Luke are falling for each other. And does anyone really take a train to Los Angeles from New York?

We kind of know the answers to these questions. So what there is to do is enjoy the dancing.

Not too bad and everything you may expect for a dance flick. Why it is in 3D is anyone's guess, ohh yehh, thats right, every second movie is in 3D these days. If your a fan of the other two Step Up films you will absolutely love this predictable story. A battle of dance teams looms with prize money needed to pay the bank to hold the closure of the street dancers studio/residence. The cast is good looking and talented as they strut their stuff, a highlight being a splashing dance scene in water. Australian starlet,Sharni Vinson, last seen in CSI.NY is a natural while Rick Malambri (Surrogates) will have the ladies swooning at his disco inferno. It's an OK movie, family friendly and undemanding entertainment.

Sure the story is probably the weakest from the 3, but the dancing is the most entertaining to watch from the 3 movies as well. And the 3D aspects of the film is done pretty well and was a lot of fun to watch. The past two movies is better when it comes to the plot, but still boring and I couldn't careless about it in this. Since it is mostly ridiculous, but it's just really ridiculous this time around. But if you want to see a dance flick with cool dancing in it, go check this movie out. I am also really glad Moose makes a comeback in this, the kid is one cool nerd and the kid can really freaking dance. Overall although the plot is laughably ridiculous, the dancing and the 3D aspects of it was a ton of fun to watch. Would have been even more entertaining if it had more dancing competitions in it.

7/10

STEP UP 3D – CATCH IT ( B ) Step Up 3D has the most mind blowing and jaw dropping dancing. The music and dance performances of the movie are par excellence. All the dances are so fun to watch but Obviously the End Dance wins it all, it was Super Fantastic. The only thing Step up 3D lacked big time is its acting department, obviously all them can dance exceptionally well but their acting was quite poor except for Adam G.Sevani Aka. Moss and Alyson Stoner Aka. Cam. Adam and Alyson has prior acting experience so they were great along with their dancing. Adam and Alyson's road dance was one of the sweetest dance performance I've ever seen. Stunning looking Sharni Vinson danced really well and in some scenes she acted quite well. Gorgeous Boy Rick Malambri was the weakest Actor and Dancer among them all. His dancing with Sharni Vinson was great but in whole group he was the weakest link. Sadly, he had no expressions on his face whether he is serious, sad, happy or funny, he had the same expressions except when he Smiles. I think he got this job because of his looks because he is a terrible actor. One thing besides his good looks saved him was his awesome chemistry with Sharni Vinson. All the other dancers were great in dancing and terrible in acting. Overall its highly enjoyable because of its Incredible dance routines so, if we forget the terrible acting by most of them, its pretty good.

I have to say that I am a fan of the series. The dancing in the first movie was great, but the subsequent films has had amazing numbers. I could see why Chu would want to do the film in 3D. 3D is the "it" thing these days, and the dance sequences were enhanced by the technology. That being said, 90% of the film didn't require 3D. I hate wearing the glasses unless I'm on a ride at Disney. I feel like a lot of the films that employ 3D technology also release a 2D version (a good thing for people like me). I wish Step Up 3D would have given the option, even if the name denotes the extra dimension. As for the cast, I was disappointed in the male lead but not because of his acting or looks. He is beautiful and can act. However, he apparently can't dance. I felt like if he was going to stand on the sidelines during battles or have obvious doubles they could have played him even heavier as the "director". Moose and Camille pulled off what could have been an impossibility: tying the first and second film together with the third in a realistic manner. Unlike Channing Tatum's cameo to tie the first and second films together, making Moose and Camille besties going to college together was brilliant. The soundtrack is great (even though some of the songs you'll recognized from other recent shows: Glee and Sex and the City). All in all, I enjoyed the movie and left the theater wanting to dance. The film (like any self- respecting franchise) leaves it wide open for a fourth. A word of advice: make like The Fast and the Furious and wait 'til you're missed and can get the entire cast together to go for #4.