Misfit dancers team up to compete in a dance battle in an effort to save their home. I'm pretty sure that's the summary you'll see in the TV Guide when this movie eventually gets to broadcast television. A single sentence that sums up the plot and completely fails to capture the awesomeness of this film. Straight up, I have never seen a movie that features this much dance. And not simple stuff, either, this is some serious hardcore spectacle type stuff. Yes, there is a story here, in fact, there are at least three main plot threads, but obviously that isn't the focus of this movie. It's all about the dancing and the dancers and I would have been just as happy if not happier had they just made it a documentary about the run-up to the competition and the show itself. I actually watched the first Step Up movie last night on TV and this franchise has come a long way. The first movie featured one main choreographed sequence at the end and some training montages and some smaller bits here and there... While Step Up 3D featured, well, enough distinct dance segments that there was no point trying to count them. There were several training montages, some seemingly random traveling dance segments through the city (street-level and roof-level) and some of the most amazing scenes in the various dance competitions. Oh yes, and there was the 3D. They definitely pulled out all of the gimmicky shots you've come to expect from over-the-top 3D, but I would still highly recommend seeing the movie in this format. The addition of depth to the dance really adds something to the experience. The biggest negative, I think, is the seeming loss of framerate you get with the 3D. This is most obvious in the dance competition scenes where the lighting is often diminished. You get the depth, but the movement doesn't seem as smooth. I am alright with the trade-off, but I would still rather have both smooth visuals and the added depth. My only other criticism would be over the peculiar lack of humor. I only really laughed once, which is slightly disappointing, I really think this sort of film can support plenty of humorous opportunities, though I expect the writers didn't want to detract from the heart of the story or turn it into something that felt like a parody of dance movies. I would encourage folks to see this movie, it's great fun and I think performers with this much skill truly deserve the recognition a film like this can bring about.
