StreetDance 2

For people who did not manage to catch Street Dance 3D (2010), it should come as good news that this sequel has no relation with its predecessor- other than two returning acts, Flawless and George Sampson. Street Dance 2 uses the dance scene in Europe as its backdrop, introducing a number of dances and adopting pretty much the same pattern as Street Dance 3D. However, compared to the original, this movie has a greater focus, which is to showcase the fusion of street dance with a popular Latin dance form, salsa.

The storyline, albeit cheesy, has a lot more punch and is more focused, centred as it is around a distraught Ash (Falk Hentshel) who after failing terribly at a dance battle is scouted by Eddie (George Sampson). The duo subsequently comb all over Europe for the best dancers to form their dance crew, with the aim of beating the 'Invincibles'. They chanced upon a salsa dancer Eva (Sofia Boutella), who eventually became crucial to their success. In between, there is some drama here and there, including the obligatory love story. However, those looking for some sparks will likely be disappointed, as the romance is as clichéd as it gets.

Nonetheless, as mentioned earlier, the movie does have the charms a dance movie ought to have, which are essentially supported by the dance sequences and the music. For instance, the difficulty of combining salsa and street dance was brought out through how Ash acquired the steps by taking lessons from Eva. A street dancer, who is trained to express himself as freely as he could, now needs to be disciplined and take into consideration of a partner to display elegance and passion. All these are complimented with a good mix of contemporary groovy dance mixes that engages the audience into the performance.

Also, to-watch-out-for is Sofia Boutella, who makes her feature film debut here. The French hip-hop dancer takes on a whole new different dance form yet shows no sign of being an amateur and comes off as a complete natural- certainly one of the highlights of the film.

As you would probably expect, Ash will end up being the hero who overcomes and emerges from his past failure to prove his worth. The grand finale is undoubtedly the climax of the whole visual experience. The dance routines were electrifying, a definite treat for all. The joy from the triumph was also very genuine and contagious.

Still, what remains as a really shortcoming for dance movies is its limited appeal for the uninitiated- perhaps a more solid-packed storyline and drama would enable it to broaden its appeal.

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I must admit that I love dance movies. With so much trouble going on in the world, it is such a pleasure to see people so enamoured with what they are doing. The scene in the French club with the boxing ring was the highlight of the film for me. The mixture of hip-hop, Latin dancing and MMA moves is breathtaking. Sofia B really gets your blood pressure going, not to mention all the dancers of Ash's crew who in their own way are very unique. Sofia's Dad also has a part in the movie, as he insists on bringing out the best in Ash. This dramatic tension gets us into the last scene/playoff where Ash's vision, Sofia's passion and the crew's talent can triumph.

This is a great film. Afterall it is just a film. The dancing is great, especially the Latin dance. The storyline is good. The acting and directing are good. The locations good. I'm not sure what people are expecting from a dance film, but then again a lot of people are so negative they find fault with everything. I found this film to be thoroughly entertaining and have watched it three times in the past week. I find it inspirational. The skill level of the dancers, esp, Latin dancers is phenomenal. If you're not a negative person who likes to find fault with everything and you appreciate different art forms and aren't prejudiced, I believe you will find this very entertaining.

Assemble a crew with dance abilities, and you can have a dance film. Step Up showed how street dancing can be viable for the big screen, and the European's Street Dance movie continues into its second edition, this time becoming a little bit geographically encompassing with the narrative traversing almost all of Europe during the opening credits to recruit a series of dancers for yet another movie/story. It can't get any more blatant than that, but like any genre film, the kick is in the strength of its unique value proposition, and with so many moves that can be amalgamated and combined, there is a possibility for infinite sequels.

The flimsy story, if there's ever a need for one for films like this, follows the disastrous efforts of an American boy Ash (Falk Hentschel), a popcorn seller who fell on his bum when challenging the top crew team known as the Invincibles during a competitive dance off. Eddie (Geprge Sampson), a returning character from the earlier film, sees Ash's talent, and convinces him to head a crew that they will assemble to take on The Invincibles again during an upcoming European dance competition in 8 weeks time. They get a crew easily due to Eddie's contacts, with an eye for keeping it multi-ethnic, multi-religious and multi-cultural. So a rag tag crew assembles, and to add some flavour and sensuousness to the group, Ash and Eddie recruits Eva (Sofia Boutella), a Latin dancer to help them all learn how to sizzle on the floor.

Is this film unrealistic? For the most parts, yes but it's something of a quibble that will plague any genre film that adheres strictly to an established, working formula. Unless someone in the crew has a trust fund to tap from, everyone seems to be surviving on dance and eating air. But that's the least of our concerns where they get their sustenance from, as all we need to see, is to see them dance, and all real world troubles will be instantly forgotten. And we really don't care about their backgrounds and such - efforts to add depth to characters all fall flat - except to see them work together to execute slick, choreographed moves against beat bobbing music that will leave the non-dancers amongst us astonished at how dance helps to contribute to toned bodies and rock solid abs.

As a film, directors Max Giwa and Dania Pasquini's efforts showed a little bit more maturity than their earlier Streetdance film, especially since it now got the knack of 3D. The first film went straight for the format, and found itself rooting the camera to the ground for the most parts, and like the worst of dancers, being extremely rigid in its capture of every dancer's movement, or moving the camera in bullet time format while freeze framing the dance action. Most of the time it was set square to the action so that everyone, and everything, has a chance at flying toward the screen. There's no need for that now, although there were subconscious efforts to try and maximize value for those who paid top dollar for 3D, but otherwise it can be done without, and the camera now breathes a lot more, moving around with bold angles to do justice to efforts by the dance choreographers in coming up with innovative, creative moves.

What got worked into the story was of course its much touted fusion of Latin Dance and Street Dance, with the usual storyline going where practitioners of either just cannot fathom how they can work together because of differences in philosophies and practices, but soon find it within themselves to respect the other form, and to blend styles and attitudes together to come up with something unique and new that opponents have no answer to. But that is only if opponents were actually given an equal amount of time to showcase what they can do. With the story so focused on Ash, Eva and their crew, little time gets devoted to the other teams, even during the expected big bang finale, that the story just had to find a technical loophole for the final dance battle to occur. Which works when the runtime had to be strictly kept to under 90 minutes.

If I may file another complaint on the story, it would be how the formula had to be followed to a T, with the expected rift caused between the leader and his troops coming from what was thought and mentioned as a sense of quitting and letting everyone down, when I felt that if they had pounced on the opportunity of not letting the enemy gain some intel on one's secret weapon and moves, it perhaps could have been a little better, and narratively less jarring with characters keeping to their motives and objectives rather than to let formula dictate how events have to strictly unfold. Especially since it involves an exchange of bodily fluids the scene before.

But as a genre fan, that wait for the finale was worth it, although my favourite dance routine has got to be that Druken-Master-Kung-Fu inspired moves that must be seen to be believed!

i love dance films, even some that are short on story, but this movie is really short on story and good actors. There is nothing new here, just the same rehash of every dance film before. We have our hero, Ash, played by Falk Hentschel, but i doubt his name matters. This guy looks like Will Young with muscles, but his acting ability is worse than even Will's. George Sampson is the reason i actually watched it. He was the winner of Britain's Got Talent a few years ago. He is a great dancer and his character is the only interesting one in the whole film. If you want a good dance film, then skip it. If you want a film with a storyline, then skip it. If you want to kill a couple hours being brain dead, then watch it.