Step Up 3D

I would like to start my review off with a joke... Step Up in 3D.

If you like movies with a strong story, a solid script, and character development beyond going from "single" to "in a relationship", then this is not the movie for you.

This latest installment of the franchise revolves around a teenager nicknamed "Moose", who has just graduated from high school and is ready to start a new life at NYU as an engineering major along side his bff, Camille; the two are seemingly inseparable and do not yet know they are in love with each other. During his departure from his parents,  Moose runs into and befriends a street dancer named Luke, who happens to be the leader of a local dance crew creatively called the Pirates. Coincidentally, Moose happens to have the skill the Pirates need to win the big dance competition that could earn them the money to save their "crib" from foreclosure.

The story in this film is pretty much zero. It lacks originality and the momentum that it needs to keep an audience interested. When people aren't dancing it seems to just stand still and lul the audience to sleep with a pathetic attempt at an actual story. In a film like this, the story should be what matters most and the dancing should be the kick that gives the movie some flavor. That's not how this movie rolls. It relies too heavily on the dancing sequences and not enough on its characters. Not only that, but this movie is so focused on going between the two couples that it fails to revolve around the dance team itself. We never even see them them practicing.

It doesn't help the audience any when an already snoozefest of a plot gets put in the hands of some not-so-talented actors. These characters are boring and there is about as much depth to them as there is to my bathtub. Sometimes the foundation of B acting can be enough to hold a story through (see any of the Twilight films), but in this case it just did not work.

Did I mention how uninspired the script was? The way these characters intereacted with each other seemed as if they couldn't wait for the other person to shut up so they could get their turn to talk; there was a lot of talking going on and not enough listening. There was no passion, no intensity, and no dramatic effect anywhere in sight and it just made the movie more boring than it was already doomed to be. You know there is something wrong with your film when the most dramatic line is "I'm leaving on a train to California", and it makes the audience laugh rather than feel bad.

Well you cannot talk about a movie that has "3D" in the title and not talk about the 3D, right? Well the 3D in this film is pretty good for the most part. This film was shot in 3D unlike most films nowadays that are put into 3D via post production. The 3D is most noticable during the sequences when the dancers have their hands all up in yo face; however, the more spactacular scenes, like the final dance, did not work as well in 3D.

However this movie is good for a couple things: it makes the first Step Up look like it actually has a structured plot while also serving as a prime example of what movies shouldn't be in the future if 3D does in fact become the standard and 3D premium pricing becomes the norm.

So unless you like watching people dance on screen, Step Up 3D is a boring, unoriginal installment to a franchise that has now run its course, but if you are a fan of these movies then you will probably want to see this film.

I say skip it.