STEP UP

"I can be better than this"

After breaking in and smashing up the stage the Maryland School of Arts, Tyler Gage (Tatum) is given two hundred hours of community service as a janitor at the school. Student Nora Clark (Dewan) has more important things on her mind however, as her partner for her end of year showcase has injured his ankle and she has no one to dance with her. When she sees Tyler dancing outside of the school with his friends Mac (Radcliff) and Skinny (Washington), Nora offers him the chance to escape the mop and trash cans and dance with her but can someone from the streets adapt to the restrictions of contempory dance?

Another year another dance movie but can 'Step Up' breath some originality into a genre that has been moving to the same beat for years?

If you thought sports movies were clichéd then you have never watched a dance movie. After its surprise success at the US box office 'Step Up' dances its way to the silver screen and brings absolutely nothing new to the dance floor. After hits like 'Honey', 'Save the Last Dance' and 'Take the Lead' over the last few years, it seems that Hollywood has fallen in love again with the dance movie genre but none of them have quite hit the heights of the dance floor king, 'Dirty Dancing'. 'Step Up' isn't going to do that either.

It's the same old story. A bad boy from the streets introduces a good girl from a good school to street dancing. She introduces him to a better way of life, one were you have a purpose and a goal that will lead you to success and a better you. Together they bring out the best in each other and form a partnership that will blow everyone away during the final big dance showcase. Absolutely nothing new here then. Add to this the not obligatory RnB/Hip Hop soundtrack and you have a movie that is just an amalgamation of everything that had come before.

While the plot and structure of the movie might not be anything new, the showcase of talented young actors is. Channing Tatum is a very gifted dancer and athlete who steps into the role of bad boy from the wrong side of the tracks, Tyler Gage with ease. He makes the character a lot more watchable than he should be as soon as you get past the 'Vanilla Ice/New Kids on the Block' look the character has. Jenna Dewan is also very good as Nora Clark, the girl who just wants her showcase to be perfect so she can get into a great performing arts college. She is a beautiful as she is talented, showing not only skill as a dancer but as an actress as well. The rest of the cast also try their best with their slightly too stereotypical roles with eye catching performances from Damaine Radcliff as Mac and Drew Sidora as Lucy.

If you mix in a big dollop of 'Dirty Dancing', throw in some 'Save the Last Dance', 'Honey' and 'Take the Lead' and then have a sprinkling of 'Flashdance' and 'Fame' for good measure and then you'll have 'Step Up'. There is absolutely nothing new here and you will end feeling sorry for the young actors and actresses because they deserve a lot better than one dance and relationship montage after another. This is one dance movie that you might want to sit out.

Save the Last Dance

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2006