Step down off the streets: 'Step Up 2' disappoints
By Nicole Harris
For a movie to be entertaining, it doesn't necessarily have to be Oscar-winning material. Yet, "Step Up 2 the Streets" failed miserably compared to relative movies. The characters weren't nearly as good eye candy as needed for such a poor movie with such atrocious acting and, while the dancing was good, there wasn't nearly enough of it.
The movie begins in a rough part of Baltimore with Andie, who has been swept up in local culture ever since her mom died. Played by Briana Evigan, Andie is part of a street dance crew, the 410.
The audience meets the 410 in an unintentionally hilarious dance routine on a subway, during which the crew spontaneously breaks out into dance, wearing masks, and "terrorizes" the passengers.
The incident makes the evening news. Andie's guardian tells her that she's sick of the ruckus and is sending her to Texas to live with her aunt -- a terrible fortune, of course. Luckily, "Step Up" alum Channing Tatum saves the day with a cameo in which he out-dances Andie, forcing her to attend the same school that "saved his life," the Maryland School of the Arts.
Andie does not fit in at the school of preppy ballerinas and sullen art students and has to stay after school for extra lessons from the movie's "villain," Director of MSA Blake Collins, played by Will Kemp. Collins is a former professional ballet dancer and is determined to turn MSA into a state-of-the-art dance school.
We are soon introduced to Chase Collins, the MSA stud and heir to the school's founding fathers, played by Robert Hoffman, who, coincidentally, is Blake's younger brother. It just so happens that blonde-haired, blue-eyed Chase is also an amazing dancer and has a passion for street dancing. Who would have thought?
The movie takes a supposedly unexpected twist when Andie gets kicked out of the 410 for spending too much time at rich-kid-central MSA. After all, you can't be a true street dancer if you're not rough enough.
However, against all odds, street Andie and preppy Chase team up and start their own crew comprised of MSA's least desirable. There's the token hippie, foreign-exchange student and socially awkward guy, amongst other stereotypes, who all have amazing dancing abilities. Unfortunately, they have to practice after hours because Director Collins thinks of street dancing as delinquent and unrepresentative of MSA's class.
The students practice and bond. Chemistry builds between Andie and Chase, a ballerina gets jealous and, at one point, they all break into a salsa routine at a barbecue.
Thinking that they have what it takes to compete, the MSA crew battles it out at their first street competition. Their rigid dance routine and lack of "ghettoness" elicits boos, and they are forced to leave the competition.
Fortunately, one of Andie's former sidekicks from the 410, Missy, played by Danielle Polanco, joins the crew, and before you know it, the MSA crew has the perfect mix of skill and street.
Without giving away the ending, let's just say it involves sagging sweatpants, dancing in the rain, a heartfelt speech and a big kiss at the end. Surprised?
To say that the movie was predictable would be an understatement. The chemistry between the two characters was just awkward, and I felt myself longing for the hot bodies and crazy dance moves of the first "Step Up." Grade: D-
Contact Nicole Harris at (408) 551-1918 or nharris@scu.edu.