Entertaining and enjoyable; even to non-hiphop fans

Rating: 6/10 (16 March 2008)

Entertaining and enjoyable; even to non-hiphop fans (like me), if you're eager to see something fun and new. Step Up 2: The Streets does not pretend to have a major plot and achieves its goal of delivering a good number of well choreographed dance teasers to keep you patient for the grand finale, even with the incredibly blah dialogue.
This version will obviously be compared to its predecessor Step Up, which was unexpectedly delightful. The plot is still trite but while the former focused on second chances and the chemistry of its likable leads (Jenna Dewan and Channing Tatum), the story in Step Up 2, focused on an issue (encapsulated in the movie's tagline: It's not where you're from. It's where you're at), however, the cast, albeit obviously talented, lacked the charisma of the former movie's stars.
Andie (Briana Evigan) is the usual rebel without a cause, with a way-fierce underground dance crew 410. To connect the first movie into this one, Tyler (Tatum) returns as her pseudo-big brother who sets her straight by beating her at a dance-off. Andie has to stay in an uptight school for the arts and runs into resident boy-band looker Chase Collins (Robert Hoffman), who also happens to be the director Blake Collins (Will Kemp)' brother and ex-boyfriend to the school's triple threat (sings, dances and acts) Sophie (played by singer Cassie Ventura). Teen drama ensues culminating in the street dance contest.
Evigan is charming enough and talented because she doesn't dance self-consciously. Hoffman is great but his face just isn't as handsome as Kemp, who was brilliant but seemed too young for the role. Cassie doesn't get to showcase the wunderkind she was supposed to be and just has a few snivelly moments of longing. Of all the comic relief characters painfully included, the season of the cool nerd has truly arrived as Moose (Adam Sevani), a David Spade-ish character, gets to be the hip geek. Sadly, the Asian stereotype is still unbroken, with Jenny Kido (Mari Koda)'s character of weirdo with the accent. Well, at least they didn't make her a karate kid, cello prodigy or a math whiz.