The finale's energy level and actor buy-in makes it vastly more enjoyable than the rest of the film.
Whether it's Gregory Hines, Eleanor Powell or even Julia Stiles, what makes an onscreen dancer great isn't just skill, but a commitment to the emotion of the scene.įor the dancers of "Step Up All In," they're just going through the motions, literally.Īnd the shame is that they are able to turn it on, though the audience really only gets to see that in two scenes: their mad-scientist Vortex audition video and the Vegas finale. Technically it's fine (although five minutes of rib-cage popping isn't the most exciting of choreography), but it lacks a chemistry, a make-me-care passion that is a key part of keeping audience's eyes glued to the screen. The complaint comes that too much time is spent on the plot and its chasing-a-dream angst - just get to the dancing already.Įxcept. Really, the plot is thin, but audiences don't expect anything else. (Should we have said spoiler alert? Apologies.)
Yadda yadda, they get to Vegas where they face off with Sean's old crew the Mob, yadda yadda, and end up in the finale facing the Grim Knights. He gets Moose on board, and they put together a dance crew of faces old and new (Briana Evigan, Andi of "Step Up 2: The Streets," is recruited as the sort of co-leader). Sean stays behind, gets a handyman job at the dance studio of the grandparents of "Step Up" alum Moose (Adam Sevani) and stumbles upon an ad for a dance competition called the Vortex that will award the winner a three-year show contract in Las Vegas. Rent's gotta be paid and all, and they are all shocked to find that riches are not to be easily had on the dance floor. That humiliation (and not the endless fruitless auditions, apparently) convinces everyone but Sean that it's time to give up on Hollywood and head back to Miami. It will probably be no spoiler to say that Sean and the Mob lose this dance-off. There they run into Jasper and his entourage, and after a ridiculously long "Oh yeah?" exchange the filmmakers clearly hoped would create "WILL THERE OR WON'T THERE BE A DANCE-OFF?!" suspense, a dance-off does in fact ensue. After one in which the job was given to Jasper (Stephen "Stev-o" Jones) and his Grim Knights group before the Mob could even audition, Sean and company decide what they need is a beer at a bar. Sean (Ryan Guzman) and his Mob crew from "Step Up Revolution" are chasing their dance dreams in Los Angeles, going to audition after audition to no avail. And so it is with "Step Up All In," the fifth (!) installment in the dance series. It's when directors and screenwriters try to make A Meaningful Story that they get in trouble.
The plot (and acting) is usually completely secondary, but as long as the dancing is strong, no one really cares. Listen, no one goes into dance movies expecting a strong story line. A wise dance teacher once told her students that even if they messed up their performance, as long as they started and finished strong that's all the audience would remember.Īlas, the finale of "Step Up All In" - a well-paced dance number that was a pleasing mix of hip-hop meets steampunk with a dash of "Mad Max" - was not enough to make this audience forget all that had preceded it.