Dance Way

Young Tu wants to be a dancer, and spends all the time he's not working at his summer recycling job with his friends, the crew 2PK - all the way from South Auckland, New Zealand. Holla Papakura!

When Tu gets the chance to try out for their moneyed-up, world- beating, cross-town opposition the K Crew, his father lays down the law about his future, and his friends start seriously losing the plot, Tu finds himself pulled three different ways.

Okay, so far, so every reach-your-goals-movie ever. The story is nothing new, though there's a great injection of Kiwi humour every so often to lighten the drama - but the dancing and music are something else.

This is what you're really seeing Born To Dance for - choreography by the sensational Parris Goebel, performances by groups like the Royal Family and Black Grace, and the thumping soundtrack put together by P-Money from a mix of local and international artists.

The finale of the Regional Finals competition has to be seen to be believed - and it's best seen on the big screen.

Not a fan of hip-hop music or dancing, but I wanted to watch this film because of the Maori Auckland connection. With the "coming of age" billing and the family factor, a single dad taking care of his adolescent son with dreams of making it big if accepted into the K-Crew dance team, it appealed to me personally, too. Tu learns, however, that along with the "big time" comes betrayal and the reality of the "winning at all costs" method many "top" performers in whatever dance field consider SOP. The story is common, but the acting is believable. I'm still no fan of the music/dance genre but it was a fun film with a little romance, a little drama and a "feel good" message and ending: make new friends but stand with the loyal bros who always have your back.

Another dance movie? My first thought was it was gonna be another dance movie with generic plot line, bad acting and dance which focuses on gimmicky acrobatics and effects rather than dance itself (Step Up series anyone?). But this movie proved me wrong in some way.

It's set in New Zealand, so expect some really exotic Kiwi accents, and the movie doesn't let down in that department. While some may find the accent borderline incomprehensible, I personally enjoyed it. It follows a young aspiring Hip-Hop dancer Tu with his crew, while saying more could be considered spoilers, so let's not go there. It's a pretty generic storyline formula used in many other previous dance movies (Step Up series, Streetdance series). The acting isn't wow-ing in any way, and most of them are professional dancers rather than actors from what I know. It also stars So You Think You Can Dance (US Version Season 4) finalist Kherington, which was a warm surprise for me because she was one of my favourite contestant during that season of the show.

But here's the best thing about this movie - the dancing, because it focuses on the DANCE part rather than using acrobatics and effects. The choreography were amazing. The group numbers at the end were extremely enjoyable to watch. Here's what I started disliking about the Step Up series after the 3rd movie - they were more acrobatics and props effects than dancing. And the sole focus on dancing in this movie was a refreshing change for me (Streetdance series did this as well previously, by fully focusing on the dance instead of props).

Anyway, the movie is not bad - generic plot line, not so bad nor good acting (I guess you could call it average), with amazing dancing and choreography. Which is why I gave it a 7/10, because it was wholesomely entertaining to watch.

I wanted to watch this movie before it had even been released once I found out that Parris Goebel had choreographed it. What I was hoping for was something fresh and exciting to reflect Goebel's amazing talent with dance moves.

Nope. Just the same story line that has been regurgitated SO many times I could cry. I was equal parts infuriated and despairing when I realised early on exactly where the plot was going. I skipped to parts where the dancing was, if only to see Goebels work but not even a line up of Stan Walker, music by P-Money and Scribe could make me sit through the entire movie.

Thoroughly disappointed.

Worst camera work ever!!!! Be prepared to be frustrated at not being able to see the actual dances properly... ... never mind the script - which definitely is not impressive at all... the filming is terrible. extremely disappointed, if only they had gotten a camera crew who knew how to capture dancers properly - most important part of the movie ruined ha. don't even bother watching it.