Two out of
Five stars
Running time:
101 mins
Step Up 3D features superb 3D effects and suitably impressive dance sequences but it fails to connect on an emotional level, thanks to a lazy script, poor dialogue and an exceptionally irritating performance from Adam G. Sevani.
What's it all about?
Directed by Jon Chu, Step Up 3D stars Adam G. Sevani as Moose (from Step Up 2 the Streets), who comes to New York to attend university with his best friend Camille (Alyson Stoner, from Step Up) and promptly joins a street dance crew called The Pirates, who live and train in a Brooklyn warehouse owned by handsome wannabe filmmaker Luke (Rick Malambri). Despite the fact that Luke also runs a successful nightclub out of the same building, he's behind on his payments, so The Pirates need to win the upcoming World Jam dance competition in order to save their home.
Luke also recruits sexy dancer Natalie (Sharni Vinson) and the pair start to fall for each other, but he is unaware of her connection to rival crew-leader Julien (Joe Slaughter). Meanwhile, Moose decides to keep his dancing a secret from Camille and is unaware that she has a crush on him.
The Good
Step Up 3D has had its three-dimensional thunder stolen slightly by the recent release of British dance movie StreetDance 3D. That said, the 3D is used imaginatively (there's a great scene involving Slush Puppies and an air vent) and the dance sequences are excellent, particularly a splashy water-based number and a sequence involving Tron-like electronic suits.
The Bad
There is nothing inherently wrong with clichés per se – marshalled successfully, they can be very effective in delivering the required emotional punch. However, while all the expected elements are in place here, the lazily written script doesn't bother paying them off properly, so you don't care about either of the central relationships.
The film also fails to generate any tension in the competition scenes – at least the previous films gave the rival crews equally impressive dance sequences, whereas here there's obviously no contest. It also doesn't help that some of the performances (Slaughter, crew members) are dodgy, while Moose is an exceptionally annoying character from start to finish.
Worth seeing?
With StreetDance 3D, the stunning dance sequences and impressive 3D effects were just about enough to compensate for the dodgy acting and rubbish script. Unfortunately, that's not the case with Step Up 3D thanks to a lazy screenplay full of poorly marshalled clichés that prevent the film from connecting on an emotional level.