Eric D. Snider
Step Up 2 the Streets
Movie Review
"Step Up 2 the Streets"
Review by Eric D. Snider
Grade: C+
Rating: PG-13
Released: Thursday, February 14, 2008
Directed by:
Cast:
Most sequels are unnecessary, but "Step Up 2 the Streets" takes it to a new level. It is a follow-up to the 2006 hit "Step Up," and that film's star, Channing Tatum, does appear in one scene to pass the torch. But other than that, it's no more connected to "Step Up" than it is to "Save the Last Dance" or "Honey" or "Stomp the Yard" or "How She Move" or "You Got Served" or "Take the Lead" or "Feel the Noise" or any of the other teenage street-dancing movies that have proliferated in recent years.
It's no better than any of those movies, either, which is to say it's laughably simple and underwritten, with stock characters and a by-the-numbers storyline. But I don't really mind this sub-genre anymore, now that I've gotten used to it. All the scenes where people aren't dancing tend to be forgettable, but the dance sequences are energetically choreographed and performed.
This time our heroine is Andie (Briana Evigan), a rowdy Baltimore high-schooler who spends all her time with The 410, a street-dancing squad specializing in impromptu public performances designed to surprise and unnerve onlookers. (They spray a little graffiti now and then, too.) Faced with the choice of either straightening up her act or being sent to Texas to live with her aunt, she chooses the former and enrolls in the Maryland School of the Arts, a "Fame"-style performance academy.
You may well imagine that Andie's freestyle dance moves raise eyebrows at MSA, particularly the eyebrows of Blake Collins (Will Kemp), the school's traditionalist director with the strangled American accent. (If the British actor can't sound American, maybe you should just let him be British. I'm just sayin'.) But Collins' younger brother, Chase (Robert Hoffman), who's either a student or fellow administrator, I'm not sure which, likes Andie's style.
For a while Andie is caught between two worlds: the staid, stuffy realm of MSA and her rehearsals with The 410, run by a thuggish taskmaster named Tuck (Black Thomas). Eventually she is banished from the street troupe for having "turned her back" on them (going to a good school and making something of yourself = turning your back on your friends), so Chase helps her start her own street-dancing team composed of fellow MSA students. Turns out she's not the only one there with freestyle skills that have been suppressed by the academy's rigidity. The new squad, populated by hastily introduced misfits and weirdos, must practice in secret lest Collins find out. They're like Dumbledore's Army!
The MSA crew posts a viral video online in which they taunt Tuck and The 410; it's pretty funny, actually. I also got a laugh out of this exchange between Andie and Chase:
CHASE: There's a lot you don't know about me.
ANDIE: Which is surprising, considering how much you talk about yourself.
And then I thought: Wait, no he doesn't. His character is as ill-defined as everyone else's. Apparently he was intended to be a conceited ladies' man. The only indication we have of that, though, is when the dorky-quirky MSA kid named Moose (Adam G. Sevani) shows Andie around the school and he lists Chase as a ladies' man. Thank goodness for expository characters like Moose, or we wouldn't know who anyone was.
But first-time feature director Jon Chu and choreographer Hi-Hat (see also: "How She Move") execute some gnarly dance scenes, culminating in a rain-soaked finale that sizzles with teen-friendly sexual energy. The performers were not chosen for their acting abilities, nor are they called upon to do anything more than address the usual Afterschool Special dilemmas and dramas. It's all about the dancing, and there's no denying the skill involved there.
Grade: C+
Rated PG-13, some suggestive dancing, brief fistfight violence
1 hr., 38 min.
Copyright © Eric D. Snider.
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This item has 9 comments
February 14, 2008 at 10:04 am
From the previews it looked like it should be a straight to DVD release
February 14, 2008 at 10:07 pm
I'm disappointed, I thought this would get rated much lower and thus bring about more hilarity
February 18, 2008 at 6:19 pm
I was forced to see this, and at the very least it was fun to make fun of. Some of the dance scenes were cool, but the acting and storyline was straight out of a crappy made for TV movie. I would have rated it a little lower than a C+ though.
February 18, 2008 at 8:02 pm
4.5 stars! Chase has just broken up with the beautiful talented star of MSA. It was a relationship like the education they were receiving -predictable but not passionate. Andi's charm comes from helping all these kids to follow their passions. Moose predicts Chase will be back with his love interest eventually but this movie is all about going thru the motions vs. finding your passion. Andi and Chase are on the same page on what makes them tick and the importance of following their passions. All great messages! Costumes, music and dancing are plentiful and stellar! Loved Step Up! Loved Step Up 2!
February 18, 2008 at 9:27 pm
Oh, I can't resist: Thank heaven there were plentiful costumes in a cinematic production! It sure would be a shame if all those actors had to go about naked.
Oh, silly people that post incoherent comments. How you bring joy to my life.
February 21, 2008 at 9:54 am
i thought the movie was awesom, i give it a 5 out of 5, the moves were insane, and the last dance was the best, it has u on the edge of your seat, its crazy i loved it
March 13, 2008 at 12:07 pm
Oh geez. I agree with Sarah (#5). Does anyone else notice that the people who loved this movie are also the generation that can't write complete sentences or spell? I am truly concerned for the Myspace/YouTube/Texting generation.
Learn English!!! (Real English, please.)
March 22, 2008 at 2:49 pm
I would just like to say that I enjoyed this film, even if it was an effort to get to the dancing sections. The storyline sucks. The timeline is even worse (lets not forget that at least 7 years has past and Tyler has a little beard to make him look older). The characters are predictable and hollow. But that is not why we watched this film in the first place. Even though you do not really need to watch the first film, if you had, you would realise that these films (and others) are based on the stun factor of the dances.
My main complaint would lie with the soundtrack... most (and I talk from some experience) breaking features around old-skool hip hop and not the modern comercial junk that is churned out, album after album. But anyway, I guess they have to sell the film to the kiddies right? My other point is that the WHOLE film is building up to the confrontation at the end, and while this scene was spectacular in its moves, construction and syncronisation... the music tracks and remixes are NOT included on the soundtrack CD. Nor are they even mentioned in the titles. To answer a major question going around, the metal/rock riff mixed with Timbaland's 'Bounce' is an unknown (to me anyway) remix of Anthrax ft. Public Enemy (or the other way round if you like). As for some of the other parts during that master-mix... I for one am left intrigued and interested... but mainly annowed.
I would say this film is worth 3/5 but a worthy 5/5 if you wait for the DVD and just skip to the dance scenes... lol
March 23, 2008 at 1:34 pm
i loved the film i thought it was brilliant. and definatly lived up to the first one.
what i do really want to know though is where i can find the white salsa dress she wears at the barbeque because i want to buy it. its sooo georgeous. would be great if you could let me know
great film :)
thanks