Regular fare, competently delivered

Rating: 6/10 (26 October 2006)

Step Up (three stars)
Director Anne Fletcher Writers Duane Adler and Melissa Rosenberg Stars Jenna Dewan, Channing Tatum Certificate PG Running time 103 minutes Country USA Year 2006
Nora is training to be a dancer at the fairly exclusive Maryland School of the Arts. Tyler is a rebel from the wrong side of the tracks doing community service at the school after getting caught breaking in and vandalising it for kicks. She is classically trained in ballet and contemporary dance. He can breakdance like there's no tomorrow and throw in body-popping and cool good looks (Tyler is played by ex-model Channing Tatum). She needs a dance partner and there's the usual storyline footsie of boy-gets-girl, breaks up with girl, aspires, is gonna dance, is not gonna dance, they make each other feel good in public together then kiss-kiss finale.
This is the same formula used in every modern dance movie and Step Up has no surprises, but for an enjoyable slice of this type of cake it is no worse than average. It doesn't have the glossy editing/directing and punchy acting to make it stand out like a Fame, Dirty Dancing, or Flashdance, but it's fine on its own level, competent, and has some good dance sequences.
From a dance point of view, classical ballet is very upright, geometrical, relatively emotionally unexpressive and danced in a precise manner. Breakdance, using different heights, opening and closing in fluid motion to express feeling, and working off the beat more like jazz, is a natural opposite. Mixing the two together gives an interesting and explosive combination. Nora finds that her dance routine is greatly enhanced by Tyler's style and gives him a crash course in ballet (which would be needed for posture and control).
A good hip-hop soundtrack boosts these joining of opposites, adding violin to the funkier beats. A forgettable movie, but worth seeing by dance fans or teenagers after easy-viewing.