Honestly, I’m consistently surprised when another kids-from-different-worlds-dance!-and-find-common-ground! movie gets made. Um, “Grease”? “Dirty Dancing”? Even “High School Musical”? Those flicks have cast long, long shadows on the musical film genre, and it’s hard to see yet another “Step Up” movie recycling the same tropes, stereotypes, and clichés. The first film in the series, starring Channing Tatum and future wife Jenna Dewan, succeeded in giving us the glory that is Tatum (after all, he has starred in nearly everything this year, from “Haywire” to “21 Jump Street” to “Magic Mike”) and made bunches at the box office. The sequels haven’t. So why must we continue suffering through them?
And yes, suffer you shall through “Step Up Revolution,” which hits all the same notes, nearly minute for minute, as its predecessors. It’s all very manufactured and processed—the extraneous 3-D doesn’t help—so even though the dancing is impressive and the choreography intricate, there’s nothing half as charming as Danny and Sandy frolicking on the beach or as risqué as Baby and Johnny performing in front of her parents at the end of the summer. “Step Up Revolution” doesn’t take any risks, it just throws its stock characters and plot developments at you with the expectation that you’ll be invigorated. Nuh-uh.
It’s weird, actually, that “Step Up Revolution” is produced by Adam Shankman and Jennifer Gibgot, the same pair who brought us this year’s “Rock of Ages.” That Tom Cruise-starring rock musical may have flopped at the box office, but man, it was a thousand times more enjoyable than this shlock.
This time “Step Up” goes to Miami, where poor dancer Sean (Ryan Guzman, a former Abercrombie & Fitch model and mixed martial arts fighter) leads his crew in a number of attention-grabbing dance sequences; similar to flash mobs, they show up places, dance really well, put the video online, and hope that enough people see it so they can win some funding. “The Mob” takes itself seriously, which means they mysteriously materialize at malls, art galleries, and other super-busy places to shock and awe unknowing citizens and then swagger off smugly. Once, they mime machine-gunning their enemies! It’s all very avant-garde.
Entering into this environment is Emily (Kathryn McCormick, of the TV show “So You Think You Can Dance”), a little rich girl who dreams of making it big as a dancer. But she’s classically trained, not as gritty or urban as Sean is, so naturally they’re drawn to each other after meeting at the hotel where they both work. Things get complicated, however, by her father’s business: A wealthy real estate developer, Bill (Peter Gallagher, of “Burlesque”) hopes to manifest-destiny a strip The Mob calls home, razing everything that’s already there. So Emily’s and Sean’s burgeoning relationship takes on a political element, too, as The Mob wonders whether they should keep trying for the sponsorship opportunity or protect their neighborhood instead. Such strife!
All the things the characters worry about happening, happen, or at least are heavily threatened at, for maximum dramatic effect. Sean gets in legal trouble because of The Mob. Emily could irredeemably ruin her relationship with her father. The dancers could lose out on the sponsorship. It’s all very predictable, and shocking, even, that so little could happen in 97 minutes. So. Very. Little.
That’s not to undermine the dancers; their immense talent and discipline is undeniable, even if the 3-D effects don’t really do much to add to the experience. (Is pelvic thrusting really necessary in an extra dimension?) Some scenes, like when the performers dance on top of cars stopped in traffic and incorporate acrobatics, ballet, and Cirque du Soleil-style moves into their performances, are good. Others, such as when dancers don what looks like riot gear and throw smoke bombs into the crowd to further their message, seem overwhelmingly absurd (and, in light of last week’s Colorado massacre, more than a little tasteless).
But for all the good dancing in “Step Up Revolution,” the script is nonexistent, the characters are forgettable, and Guzman and McCormick aren’t actors, they’re glorified extras. As much as director Scott Speer and writer Jenny Mayer want to say something about underground culture and how these dancers work to maintain it, that’s not the focus here. The focus is … really just those pelvic thrusts.
There are too many missed opportunities to name, but I’ll try a few: The film doesn’t feature any Cuban culture whatsoever, even though it takes place in Miami; the main romantic relationship takes a backseat to The Mob’s antics, so you couldn’t care less about the protagonists; and although the dancers espouse an anti-commercialism mentality when it comes to protecting their turf, that disappears by the film’s conclusion. We couldn’t have “Step Up” merchandise if the film was a veiled “Communist Manifesto,” could we?
If you want good dance numbers, rent “Dirty Dancing.” If you want Occupy-tinged revolution, go see “The Dark Knight Rises” (again). Whatever you do, just stay away from “Step Up Revolution.”
