Late Lunches: The Crazy Russian Tackles (of all things) "Step Up 2"

-Posted by Rusty

Review: “Step Up 2: The Streets”

My Rating: 2 ½ bites [out of 5]

“Why the hell am I watching this? And…wait, did I just kind of enjoy that?”

Both good questions. Both ran through my mind as I spent a lazy day home from work. This was on STARZ, and I turned it on right for the first dance sequence. Right on time for my good man, Channing Tatum (actually quite funny and likeable here), in a dance-off with new lead, Briana Evigan (who I really think could be a star one day).

And you know what? It wasn’t bad at all.

Channing Tatum had like 10 minutes of screen time at best, coming back as the character from the original movie to give our new heroine, the sassy, talented Andie, a nudge in the right direction. The plot kicks into gear when Andie, a “street dancer” (as a snooty dance instructor says it — you think he’ll change his mind?), gets a chance to go to the Maryland School of the Arts. Slowly but surely, she finds some kindred spirits aside from the preppy “clones”, and they band together to compete at a legendary dance competition called “The Streets.”

Evigan is a new face to me, but she’s got a ton of fire and charm. Her Andie is sharp, pretty witty, and can stand toe-to-toe with any guy. It also helps that she’s really pretty…but, in a cute, punk-ish, rebellious way—I like that she’s a bit different, that she gives off an edgy, don’t-mess-with-me vibe. Evigan is about to star in two horror movies (“Sorority Row” and an untitled one where she runs away from a cougar intent on eating her—I swear, that’s the actual plot description), but I think we'll see her in many more (and better) movies soon. I was very pleasantly surprised by how comfortably she held her own here; she’s a natural on screen, and she shows some real talent (not to mention amazing dancing chops).

Actually, I was pleasantly surprised by the whole movie. I totally expected to hate it, but — minus the last act, which is pretty predictable, and a subplot that’s unintentionally funny — for the most part, I think the film works. It’s a straight-down-the-line movie — almost good, but not really all that bad. Take this as a half-hearted recommendation, and just catch it on TV for a pleasant hour and a half.

While the film’s many rehearsal montages are pretty cool to watch, the parts of the movie that work the best are the dialogue and romance scenes (yeah, seriously). All the cast members, particularly Adam G. Sevani as Moose (who’s like a younger, slightly dorkier, but very loveable Shia LaBoeuf), have nice chemistry together, and, for some bonus points, they interact like actual teenagers. There’s a fun, unexpectedly loose rhythm to the dialogue — it’s somewhat jokey, but feels pretty authentic — it actually captures the way friends gently make fun of each other, and that’s pretty rare in teen films. Moreover, even the romances don’t seem tacky. There are two in the movie, and both are rather sweet—the couples never get cutesy, and the awkwardness, banter, and attraction all feel quite genuine. And, by the way, this might sound like a stupid achievement, but kudos to the “Step Up” filmmakers for having a handsome male lead who’s actually pretty smart. Chase (Robert Hoffman) could’ve been a bland, dopey “dream guy,” but in a good combination of performance and writing, Andie’s love interest is just an intelligent, talented, well-liked dude—they do exist in the real world…good to see one in the movies for a change (I’d almost compare him to Paul Rudd in “Clueless” if the movie was a little better).

But there are some missteps. Actually some major ones. I could’ve lived with the corny plotline of the Professor-Who-Just-Can’t-See-Andie’s-True-Talent-Until-the-End, but we also have an incredibly unnecessary rivalry with Andie’s old dance crew. Andie was forced to leave the crew because she joined MSU (how dare she go to a fine institution!), but then her old cohorts just can’t leave it alone. They taunt here, graffiti her school’s studio, and, well, just leer at her with lots of attitude whenever she comes by. They’re led by Tuck, who, throughout the movie, is literally some sort of dancing psychopath. At one point, he even drives up to Chase as he’s walking home, and asks, as toughly as possible, “So, I heard you were dancing it up in there?” How is “dancing it up” even remotely offensive? And Chase is a dancer — what else was he supposed to do?!

Oh, and then he beats Chase up because he doesn’t want him competing at “The Streets”. Why? I don't really know...but it sure is a sensitive issue for him.

I wish I could let that part of the movie slide, but Tuck (who also squeezes in lots of violent temper tantrums in between dancing) is too cartoonish to take seriously, and his moronic shenanigans take up way too much time. It’s funny stuff after a while, but I'm sure that’s not what the filmmakers were going for. And that’s too bad — there’s a charming movie in here that, with a quick snip of that entire subplot, would’ve been instantly better.

Still, the dancing (and, really, the rest of the movie) mostly makes up for Tuck’s ridiculous posse. Simply put, I thought the dancing was pretty incredible — most impressive of all was that final sequence in the rain (you might’ve seen glimpses of it in the trailer). I also liked that all the actors did their own dancing (to the extent we can see), but they seem to be actors first, and that helps immeasurably for the chunks of the movie that can’t rely on cool moves.

Overall, just a pretty enjoyable movie, if not exactly a good one. In real life, I have a weird relationship with dancing — I never properly learned (unacceptable for a Russian!), but I scraped by for years on just being able to slow-dance. So, movies like this are kind of a peek into things that are a bit beyond me. (Really, I don’t think my body could even contort like these guys without some serious damage.) It was a given that I’d at least like the dancing parts…but it really surprised me that I honestly cared for this quirky bunch of people.

There’s actually another “Step Up” movie coming soon (yep, “Step Up 3-D”), and while I probably won't see that one in theaters…it will be a most definite guilty-pleasure rental when it hits DVD. Or a random watch on STARZ on a day off from work, of course.

Image courtesy of Summit Entertainment and Touchstone Pictures.