Review of Step Up Revolution (2012) by Bradley W — 20 Aug 2012

Step Up Revolution was exactly what I expected to be walking into the theater, another cliché and predictable dance flick with great dance moves but no soul. I mean let's face it, the Step Up films don't have anything great about them other than the dance moves. I can honestly say that this new film succeeds in bringing some great dancing that really entertained me, but nothing else about the movie really mattered. The characters had nothing interesting about them, the story didn't matter and was easily forgettable, and the acting was truly awful. Every Step Up film seems to love teasing the audience with a boring romance story and some other story about saving their club or dance school by dancing in some tournament, and man do they love to show off how cliché a movie script can be. I can live through the clichés since I have had to see them in the first three Step Up films, but the acting of the film is so awful that it's hard to even slightly enjoy the characters. If you want to see an example of horrible acting, I want you to witness the teens in this film because they are definition of "horrible acting." Go see this new Step Up film for the cool dance moves, but don't expect anything else.

The story follows Emily Anderson, the daughter of a wealthy businessman, arrives in Miami with aspirations of becoming a professional dancer, but soon falls in love with Sean, a young man who leads a dance crew in elaborate, cutting-edge flash mob. The crew, called the MOB, strives to win a contest for a major sponsorship opportunity, but soon Emily's father threatens to destroy the MOB's historic neighborhood and build a large hotel, and in the process, displace thousands of people. Emily must band together with Sean and the MOB to turn their performance art into protest art and risk losing their dreams to fight for a greater cause.

The plot of the film is just a quick and easy way to make another Step Up film and show off some new moves. I think I would enjoy this series much more if they would stop trying to put stories in here and just give us a 90 minute film with dancing instead. I really enjoyed the dancing and the cool environments that they gave us to watch, but I didn't care about or remember one character in this film. It was all a big clobber of teens who can't act and with a few adults that we don't really care about at all because they are just there to be the villains. This is not a teen rebellion movie, however they are trying to make it become one, and you will be lucky to find anything that is relatable with these cliché teenagers. I mean there are so many clichés in this film that it almost hurt to watch. It just felt like I was watching the same exact films that I have seen before in the series, I mean every single story to the Step Up films feel exactly the same but with some minor differences. I understand that this series is very popular and people really enjoy them, but I cannot look past the fact that the scripts to these films are just really pointless.

The cast was possibly the worst thing about the film, and I say that I nicely as I can. This group of teens was great dancers and I will give them that, but it doesn't change the fact that their performances wanted to make me rip my eyes out with watching their terrible acting. It also seems like they pretty much give these actors the same exact roles as the past films in the series so it really felt like this movie was nothing new. Kathryn McCormick is a fantastic dancer and really entertained me, sadly her acting almost made me laugh at her stupidity. Her character was given so many cliché lines that it may not have been all her fault, but it doesn't change the fact that she really annoyed me. Ryan Guzman was like watching a rock try to grow, it's not going to do anything so we must just sit there and wait for anything to happen. It was like they got the most attractive dancers possible with the worst acting and put them into this film, and that is truly sad if you ask me.

Step Up Revolution wasn't an important film and will be seen just as another Step Up film, and I really pity the man or woman who thought this story was well made. The director Scott Speer has made many music videos and I was very impressed at how well he made this dance film and how much the dancing kept me entertained. He really gave the dancing something the other films didn't, and I think the word for that is "pizzazz." Sadly the writers give him absolutely nothing to work with and the casting for the film just seemed like they wanted to get the dancers who had the worst acting abilities possible. I think the film succeeded in trying to be a good dance film, but failed in every other aspect. If this new film does well in the box-office they will probably make another Step Up film, and I honestly hope they can make an addition to the series that is not one big plot filled with clichés and horrible actors. So in conclusion, if you want some great dancing than you should go see this fun movie, but it will not be fun if you are hoping for anything beyond good dance moves.