Step Up 2 the Streets (2008)

O Masterpiece
O Excellent
X Rental
O OK
O Mediocrity
O Avoid

Review by Jason Pyles / February 16, 2008

Much like Jay Leno or circus clowns, “Step Up 2 the Streets” has some kind of charismatic appeal that allows it to please us more than it should. Most dance movies solely rely on choreography to entertain the audience, but “Step Up 2” also has charming actors (or acting charmers) who distract us from the non-dance nonsense. I cite as my example Robert Hoffman, who plays Chase. Watch the eyes.

And, of course, there’s Briana Evigan, whose Andie “midriff” West character has been dazzled by dancing all her life: “I remember the first time I saw someone move like they were from another planet,” she says, “I couldn’t take my eyes away.” Now Andie’s street moves and her mischievous dance crew called “410” (pronounced 4-1-Oh) captures onlookers’ gazes in that same mystical way.

But like most dance-movie dancers, Andie busts her moves and moves her bust to deal with the loss of someone special, in her case, her mother. (A close relative’s death almost always begins dance movies: “Stomp the Yard” (2007), “How She Move” (2008).)

Having been entrusted with Andie’s care, her mother’s best friend, Sarah (Sonja Sohn), cracks down on Andie and threatens to send her to Aunt Alice’s place in Texas, that she may be whisked away from the bad influences of her street life in Baltimore. (The logic is sure: Everybody knows Texas doesn’t have bad crowds.)

Luckily, though uncharacteristically, Tyler Gage (Channing Tatum) intervenes and convinces Sarah to give Andie one last shot at MSA, aka the Maryland School of the Arts. Of course, the institution has a fine dance program, specifically for ballet, hence the tie-in and justification to call this sequel “Step Up 2.” The “streets” part comes in later …

Yes, Channing Tatum played the lead role in the first movie, “Step Up” (2006), which is about a hoodlum street-dancer who starts dancing with a ballerina, of sorts. But it turns out that Tatum and ballet only have brief appearances in this sequel. In fact, “Step Up 2” seems so sure that its audience wouldn’t have the attention span for ballet that it cross-cuts between ballet practice and street dancing practice. It’s always nice to feel underestimated.

As Andie progresses away from her old lifestyle, there is a tug-of-war for her time and talent. “Step Up 2” relies on The Streets versus The Higher Education dilemma; except in this movie, “the streets” happens to also mean the big dance competition, lest we miss the message. (Such spoon-feeding slights the audience, yet again.)

The interesting thing about “Step Up 2” and the countless other movies like it, is what I call “the consolation compromise”: The target audience drawn by such a movie is, presumably, much like its characters. The movie celebrates individualism, but also recognizes that even the most unique people can still learn from “The System” or societal norms. Indeed, there’s always a point in movies like this where the nagging parent(s) or disciplinary educator sees the misfit in his or her element and admits fault. This is a consolation compromise, but I guess the target audience would disapprove if the parents or the school were altogether correct. After all, we mustn’t alienate the ticket buyer.

But just once, wouldn’t it be refreshing to see a film where the odd duck “figures it out” and finally grows up (like most of us eventually have to do)? Never mind that; let’s just keep making the same movie, instead.

Country singer Brad Paisley has a song called “Letter to Me,” which is about the insights that he’d write in a letter to a 17-year-old version of himself. In this song, he sings, “Each and every time you have a fight, just assume you’re wrong and dad is right.” This seems more true to life than the eating of crow that goes on in “Step Up 2.”

Amid this rash of street-dance films, “Step Up 2” is one of the best I’ve seen. Hi-Hat, Dave Scott and Jamal Sims, the movie’s choreographers, have unmistakable talent. And the dancers defy the natural mobility of the human body, the law of gravity, and probably several laws of physics. This being the case, be sure to keep watching through the end credits.

I must admit that I like dance movies, probably because they remind me of martial arts movies: The flimsy plots are merely a vehicle for showcasing stellar stunts. And with snappy lines like, “Don’t sweat it. Everybody’s just hatin’ on ya ‘cause you’re dope,” we can even tolerate a little overused story line, right?

Despite the shameless tying up of loose ends at the end of the movie, “Step Up 2” is surprisingly entertaining. The dancing is fabulous and the soundtrack compelling and complementary. And though I never thought much about movie-trailer-makers until I saw “The Holiday” (2006), “Step Up 2” has an effective trailer that represents it well.

But above all, know this: The rain-dance scene (from said trailer) is worth the price of renting this movie. And without a doubt, the best dancer in the film is the character called Robert Alexander III or “Moose” (Adam G. Sevani). He moves like Michael Jackson on speed, played in fast forward.

Directed by Jon Chu
Briana Evigan / Robert Hoffman / Adam G. Sevani
Drama / Romance 98 min.
MPAA: PG-13 (for language, some suggestive material and brief violence)

U.S. Release Date: February 14, 2008
Copyright 2008: 237