ridiculous rating

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Three young punks, one of them played by Channing Tatum, break into an art school and proceed to trash the place in the rebelliousness. Like these movie punks always do. Tatum's character gets caught and has to do community service at the school in order to pay for what he's done. But, while serving his time, he finds out that these rich artist kids might have something in common with him. Namely, the passion for dance.The plot is about as basic as they come, with Tatum's character having to help a young female student (Jenna Dewan), who has just lost a dancing partner to an ankle injury, and enlists Tatum's character to replace him. But the film has a lot of energy and good attitude that keep it going even when the plot should bore you to tears. Tatum and Dewan have great chemistry together, and tellingly married a couple of years later. The school is also a fun setting, with an atmosphere of its own and all the side characters show the passion they have for creating things, be it music or dancing or paintings.The film is also shot rather well. The sets look great, it has fantastic colours and all the various dance numbers are shot in a way that allow you to really feel the movement.Nothing much more to say, really. It's exactly what you'd expect from hearing the description, and for some people that can be a problem. Personally, I do like it after a fashion. It's not something I'd regret not having seen, but neither do I regret seeing it. It was a pleasant diversion.

"I'm fighting, for something that's real for the first time in my life!"When Anne Fletcher made her directorial debut way back in 2006 no one imagined that this small budget film with a relatively unknown cast would end up grossing over 100 million in the US and inspiring a franchise that currently stands at five movies. It wasn't received warmly by the critics due to its cliché storyline and corny dialogues, but audiences dug it. I never was interested in the franchise and this was my first time actually sitting down and watching one. The main reason was because I knew this was Channing Tatum's break out role. He had done a couple of movies before with smaller roles, but this was the first time he was given a lead role. Tatum has delivered some strong roles recently (Foxcatcher being his most impressive) so I wanted to go back and revisit some of his earlier work. I was surprised I actually ended up enjoying this film as much as I did and I think it is largely due to Tatum's charisma. He didn't deliver a great performance, but he definitely carried the film with his charm making it enjoyable. The dancing was also pretty solid although I am not much of an expert in that area. The main problems with Step Up revolve around the clichéd screenplay and dull subplots that almost derailed the film completely, but the charisma from Tatum and his excellent chemistry with Jenna Dewan make this an entertaining viewing experience. It's been 9 years since Tatum and Dewan met on set for this movie and they are still together in real life. The chemistry was really there. Step Up is one of those films that you know is formulaic, unoriginal, and without any great technical achievements, but you still find it enjoyable due to the charismatic lead performances. You could file Step Up under the romance/dance genre along with other films as Bring it On, Save the Last Dance, and Honey. The screenplays are perhaps the weakest thing about these films, but you still can find them enjoyable when the lead characters deliver charismatic performances and know how to dance. That is the case with Channing Tatum who plays a troubled young teen who lives with his foster parents and spends a lot of time in the streets. One night out with his friends he ends up vandalizing an arts school and gets caught. He is ordered to do 200 hours of community service as payment for the damages he caused. At the school he meets a young student from a wealthy family played by Jenna Dewan who dreams of becoming a dancer. When her dancing partner gets injured, he offers to help, and the plot evolves from there.The story works best when it focuses on the two lead characters rehearsing and dancing together, but when the film shifts its focus on other subplots revolving around their friends the story losses some of its appeal. There is unnecessary conflict introduced in the film that is resolved rather easily and in a predictable way. There is also a tragic scene that takes place near the end of the film that felt out of place (the melodrama is poorly handled by the screenwriters). However, the final dance scene is one of the best in the movie so it does end in a positive note. Despite its predictable storyline and formulaic premise, Step Up is still an enjoyable film. Not good enough however to get me interested in the sequels.

This has to be one of the worst films I've ever watched. A huge dance amateur I was expecting good dance routines and great music. Needless to say both are very mediocre. The plot is ridiculous and so cliché you know how the film will end before it begins, the same goes for endless boring scenes. Acting is on the level of a porn clip. Channing has basically one single (!!) expression the whole film through and even that one is fake. He looks utterly stupid and the fact that he really cannot move to music does not help his pathetic excuse for acting. Bottom like he looks like a Shrek or a jarhead that wants to dance. The rest of the cast is, alas, not much better. Jena Dewan does not convince us that she's a rich girl trying to follow her dancing dreams. One of the reason for that failure is that the lady cannot dance to save her life. One of the most disturbing flaws in the script are the things with obvious homophobia and the notion that jazz and ballet are boring and stuck up and that one needs a thug from the slums to bring some life into the dancing. The scenes are too long and too boring, there's NO chemistry between the protagonists and the film as a whole is just simply flat (even the murder scene leaves us uninvolved to say the least). Avoid it and spend your hour 43min better!

I got this on DVD a few years back as I never seen it before and I wanted to check it out as I got it for a bargain in a DVD store.The story is about a guy named Ty who is doing community service as he and his friends break into a school in NYC and he takes their place doing community service. While his there he meets a girl(Channig Tatum's real life wife Jenna Dewan) who's partner broke his ankle for a dance completion that she was going to do and together her and Ty decide to compete in the dance completion.The story was great,cool RnB/hip hop music,chemistry between real life couple Jenna & Channing was cute and the ending was had to follow but still it was a great movie for anyone who loves music and dancing.From the director that brought you The Proposal,27 Dresses and is rumored to direct a sequel to the 2007 Disney hit Enchanted (aka Anne Fletcher who does the choreography for this as well)STEP UP is a great film to watch whenever you want something that will make you wanna dance.