Step Up Revolution

I think Step Up Revolution is probably one of those movies the studio decides not to screen for critics. If not, it probably should be. In this installment, the fourth in the loosely associated series, a group of flash mob style hip hop dancers are making a name for themselves in Miami and on the internet. But then when a real estate mogul (Peter Gallagher) purchases the land that many of the dancers’ homes are on, they use their break dancing skills to protest the move. I’m actually impressed by how legitimate I made that sound… because it’s pretty cheesy in actuality.

If one were to judge this Step Up movie without taking into account its predecessors, the verdict would not be good. This could have gone straight to DVD and no one would really be surprised. The film’s acting is shoddy at best due to the fact that casting was obviously a dance first, act second affair. But the dancing itself somehow doesn’t come across as impressive as the other films. The attempt at scale causes some of the thrill to disappear while the audience is looking at such large groups of dancers.

I’m no hip hop expert, but if the script and acting are as sub-par as Step Up Revolution, I’d like to think that the dancing will pick up the slack. Unfortunately, it just wasn’t enough. The film relies too heavily on its grand finale dance scene, which brings back some familiar faces from the past films. What is meant to reward fans of the franchise only exposes how much more fun the past movies were. Overall, that’s great that people want to dance to express their political opinions. But here is my grandpa moment of the day. Get a freakin’ job and make a difference that way. Remember kids, don’t expect some multimillion dollar real estate plan to change because you jumped on a trampoline or can spin on your head. It just isn’t going to happen.

Each film earns either zero, a half or a full arrow in five categories. The categories are Acting, Writing/Directing, Emotion, Innovation and Overall Impression. The arrows are added up to equal the full score.