“Step Up” (2006)

Step Up

Grade: C

Step Up spawned four sequels and is sorta credited with introducing hip-hop dance culture to White America (even though Breakin’ and, of course, Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo were released over 20 years earlier). Nevertheless, this is an unoriginal and uninspired film with annoying characters and a curious lack of dance scenes. A few more notes on Step Up:

• Directing – After starting her career as a dancer and choreographer for such films as Boogie Nights, Titanic and, of course, Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, Anne Fletcher made her directorial debut with Step Up. She’d go on to helm bigger and better projects (e.g., The Proposal), but she made her bones with what she knew best: the art of the dance. The problem is that Step Up isn’t very artful — the ugly mise en scène is a green-tinted fisheye style that takes after other “urban” films of the early 2000s like Requiem for a Dream and Traffic. And, like those movies, Step Up tries to be topical, but all we really wanna see is dancing.

• Acting – Just like Fletcher, Channing Tatum also started his career as a dancer, so his performance here as the hip-hopping white guy is believable enough, no matter how dumb his character seems. Unfortunately, the rest of the ensemble is filled with characters who are even dumber. I won’t hold that against the actors, however; that’s on the writers for making a film with such shallow characterization. While we’re here, I might as well blame the casting department for an ensemble that is far too old to play high schoolers.

• Writing – Step Up relies on clichés and formulaic storylines, which is nothing new in the genre of dance/romance movies. However, Duane Adler and Mellisa Rosenberg’s screenplay fails to make us sympathize with any character other than Tyler Gage. Valuable screentime that could be spent dancing is wasted on superfluous coming-of-age plot elements that add very little to the already thin storyline. We don’t need exposition about the drunk stepfather, the unapproving mother or the gangsta friends — don’t they know we’re not watching Step Up for the storyline?

• Music – The hip-hop/R&B soundtrack is just as generic as the storyline, with uninspired selections from Ciara, Kelis and Sean Paul. At least Mario gets a chance to showcase his abilities but Step Up even fucks that up: they make him play a DJ instead of a singer.

• Ending (SPOILERS) – The climactic dance sequence is a little lackluster — and the events leading up to it are heavily contrived and hardly believable — but the happily-ever-after ending is a genuine feel-good moment. The film sputters to an end after the final curtain call, however. I guess it’s safe to assume that these 27-year-olds enjoyed the rest of their senior year.

• Quote: “You’re going to have to get some tights.” – Nora Clark

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