August 07, 2006 @ 2:29 pm

Step Up Movie Review

Alexis Jeffries

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As a deviant, inner city Baltimore teen playing on the wrong side of the tracks, Tyler Gage (played by Coach Carter’s Channing Tatum) manages to keep himself occupied by impressing the ladies with his dance moves at parties, and stealing cars with his best friend for extra cash. While dealing with his adoptive parents, annoying younger sister and schooling that is devoid of excitement, Gage finds his release in street dancing. Unfortunately, after a night of partying that ends in a brawl, Gage and his friends end up breaking into the local Maryland School of the Arts, for no good reason other than they had nothing better to do. While inside the halls of the prestigious school with his best friend Mac (played by Glory Road’s Damaine Radcliff) and Mac’s hard-headed younger brother Skinny (De’Shawn Washington), Gage destroys some valuable property. When a security guard comes in to apprehend the students, Gage gets caught up while trying to save his friend Mac from the cop. right After his run in with the school’s rent-a-cop, Gage is assigned to 200 hours of community service at the arts school. There, he cleans classrooms, mops floors, and runs into the beautiful prima ballerina, Nora (Jenna Dewan), during her preparation for the senior showcase performance. From here, the movie begins to become predictable: Nora is turned off by Tyler Gage’s custodial uniform, despite her best friend Lucy’s (White Chick’s Drew Sidora) attempts to persuade her of his charming good looks. Nora conveniently looks out of the school’s window to find Gage dancing around with his friends, and becomes impressed with his ability. Then, Nora’s partner for the senior showcase conveniently sprains his foot, leaving her to hold auditions for a new dance partner. Who else could possibly fit them bill? That’s right, none other than the car-stealing bad boy himself, Tyler Gage. As the two begin working together for the senior showcase, they clash when trying to adapt to the other’s dance style. Yet, the romance blooms between them after Nora breaks up with her shady, record-deal-hungry boyfriend, Brett (Josh Henderson). As the romance develops, Gage’s relationship with his buddy Mac begins to dissipate, leaving Gage to choose between his newly-acquired love for formalized dance and his life-long friendship. Not so predictably, Gage chooses his friend over Nora, leaving her high-and-dry for the senior showcase (but of course, her former showcase partner recovers from his injury in the nick of time). As Mac and Gage rekindle their friendship, the mischievous little brother Skinny still decides to take his fate into his own hands. He goes to a party where Mac and Gage are, although he was told to stay in the house by his mother. The result: a tragedy that will bring the friends closer together and cause Tyler Gage to try to rekindle what he’s lost in Nora. Despite the entertainment value the film offers (including some rather comical moments), it is hard to separate the film from its dance-inspired predecessor, Save the Last Dance. And, it seems like no coincidence that the writer of Step Up also wrote Last Dance. The film’s soundtrack may be worth the investment, however. It features Ciara’s “Get Up”, Sean Paul and Keyshia Cole’s “Give It Up To Me” and a couple of tracks from teen heartthrob Mario, who plays Miles, a hip hop music producing student at the art school, in the movie. Overall, the film was delightful and brilliantly cast, but not anymore impressive than other dance films that have come before it like Take the Lead, Dance with Me and Center Stage. It offers nothing new to dance-movie-lovers except for a new cast of dancers, including the talented Alyson Stoner, known to the masses as “the little white girl who always dances in Missy Elliot’s videos.” The film was a great effort, but for those wanting to see something they can’t see in any music video in MTV’s rotation, Step Up unfortunately leaves something to be desired. Read more vibe.com reviews.

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