Step Up 3 (Blu-ray)
Kristy Sturdivant
December 21st, 2010
I tend to lump “dance” movies into two categories. The first category includes movies with excessive dance sequences (musicals usually fall into this section) but dancing isn’t the main focus of the film, it’s like a backdrop or another character (see BLACK SWAN). The second category is full of movies where dancing is the main focus and the rest of the film is drivel (see CENTER STAGE or YOU GOT SERVED). This second category almost always includes amazing dancers in the lead and supporting roles but their talents don’t really bleed over into their acting. I’ll let you guess which category STEP UP 3 falls into.
In the world of STEP UP 3 (and probably the first two films) the best dancers in New York City are part of dance groups, the best two being the House of Pirates and the House of Samurai-the two biggest rivals. When the House of Pirates are in danger of losing their home and dance club, their leader Luke (Rick Malambri) gathers the troops to compete at the World Jam to win some much needed money Along the way he falls for another excellent dancer (Sharni Vinson) who is hiding more than she initially lets on.
Let me start of by saying that the dancing in this film is incredible. I could honestly watch all of these talented dancers “battle it out” for hours on end and never get bored. However, this film would have been a thousand times better if the plot wasn’t so predictable and the dialogue so ridiculous. If Hollywood can take all this dance talent, give these dancers a few more acting lessons and then maybe put a big lead as the star I’m absolutely certain that this genre of films would take off. Audiences love watching dance numbers in movies, but if you bore us to death in between each number with a crummy storyline then we’re not going to want to come back for more.
Besides the incredible dance sequences, another bright spot in this film was Moose, played by Adam G. Sevani. Not only is this kid a great dancer but he has some natural charisma that made him shine on the screen. Whenever he was in the shot the eyes just gravitated towards him, and it seemed that he pulsed with energy. If for some reason there is a STEP UP 4, it would be wise to give him more screen time because he was by far and away the best actor in this film (although that’s not really saying much).
I hate to be so harsh on a film like this because I actually really enjoy watching people dance. I just don’t want to watch them do an awesome number and then turn around and deliver a line like they’re filming a home movie. I’d love to see a time in Hollywood where actors really are a “triple threat”(meaning they can act, sing and dance). We have a couple out there, like Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman but we need more young people to fill this void. Hopefully with shows like So You Think You Can Dance and Glee, more talent will be exposed to directors so they can make richer films like the ones of yesteryear.
BLU-RAY REVIEW
Video (1080p HD, 1.78:1): The excessive bright colors pop in this Blu-ray transfer which is a pleasure to watch. The main problem was that even though this wasn’t the 3D version, it was very obvious which scenes were directed towards this gimmick.
Audio (7.1 DTS-HD): Surprisingly good balance between the load music and the dialogue that took place while it was playing.
Born From A Boombox: A Luke Katcher Film (11:51): In the film the main character Luke is working on a documentary (cleverly titled Born From A Boombox) and this is the full length of his film. I suppose if you enjoyed the clips you saw in the film, then you would enjoy this little featurette. It does have some interesting dance scenes which we didn’t see in the film so that is a plus.
Extra Moves (7:20): This is a montage of dance sequences that are either during rehearsals, behind the scenes or straight from the film. This is what you would watch if you wanted to watch some of the dancing but didn’t want to suffer through the rest of the film. You also get a mix of what’s on the soundtrack throughout this featurette.
Deleted Scenes (20:08): You can watch these with or without director commentary, there are eight scenes in here and although they don’t add anything to the advancement of the plot, there are some extended dance sequences which are fun to watch.
Music Videos: “Club Can’t Handle Me” Flo Rida Feat. David Guetta, “My Own Step” Roscoe Dash and T-Pain feat. Fabo, “Already Taken” Trey Songz, “This Girl” Laza Morgan, “This Instant” Sophia Fresh feat. T-Pain, “NQ Te Quiero (Remix)” Sophia Del Carmen feat. Pitbull, “Irresistible” Wisin Y Yandel, “Spirit of the Radio” J.Randall
Making of the Music Videos (7:16): A making of featurette, but with music videos instead of just the movie. In this featurette you get to see all the dancers as well as the recording artists doing their things in crazy montages.
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