By CHRIS HEWITT By CHRIS HEWITT ADVERTISING McClatchy-Tribune Step Up Revolution is a step up. The fourth “Step Up” movie has an advantage in that it follows the wretched “Step Up 3D,” but it would be fun even without the
By CHRIS HEWITT
McClatchy-Tribune
Step Up Revolution is a step up.
The fourth “Step Up” movie has an advantage in that it follows the wretched “Step Up 3D,” but it would be fun even without the expectation lowering. Like all the “Step Up” movies, its plot jetes around a bunch of young hoofers trying to get ahead in the dance world. But it’s set in Miami, so there is less clothing, and it features the most inventive choreography (by Jamal Sims) and staging of any of the four movies.
Many of the numbers veer close to performance art. Not surprisingly, that’s the case with a number performed in and inspired by an art museum. But the most explosive sequences — a Fosse-esque one in an office building and an enormous, gymnastic one in a shipping container park — occur as part of the characters’ protests against efforts to rip down a waterside community and replace it with condos.
There are always going to be nubile people somersaulting all over the place in a “Step Up” movie — nobody wants them to be called “Speak Up” — but all of the acrobatics gain extra oomph when there’s a reason for the death-defying acts.
A general rule of thumb for all four “Step Ups” is that they’re best when there’s minimum talking and maximum dancing. “Step Up Revolution” devotes enough time to a romance between working-class Shawn (Ryan Guzman) and haughty Emily (Kathryn McCormick) to remind us that dance is a good medium for some artists because we never have to hear them talk. Guzman is fine and probably even handsomer than his “Step Up” forefather, Channing Tatum, but McCormick’s expressionless voice was made for dancing.
Luckily, there’s plenty of that here. “Step Up Revolution” may not make a ton of sense. Shawn’s flash-mob crew, the Mob, is trying to win a $100,000 prize, which is odd because it looks like that amount might barely pay for the costumes for one of their routines. But the movie sprints nimbly from production number to production number, and most of the time, the actors keep their mouths shut.
