step up all in

i was watching step up all in with a friend, and about halfway through she turned to me and said, 'the problem is, it just doesn't have the grittiness of step up 3'. she had a point.

so in step up all in, the main guy from step up 4, sean, is abandoned by his crew, the mob, because they want to get proper jobs or something. so sean has to assemble a new crew made up of characters from the last four movies. there's a dance competition in vegas, some double-crossing and heartache and drama, way too many montages and sometimes there is dancing.

i like the step up movies (go here for proof). i know the plots are paper-thin and they're a bit ridiculous and over the top but at the heart of every step up movie is the same message - truly creative people will do the creative thing that makes them happy no matter what. in step up all in the main motivator for all the characters is being able to quit their shitty day jobs. i can totally relate to that! i don't really have an equivalent creative outlet yet (unless you count this blog but comparing street dancing to blogging is a stretch) but i do have a shitty day job. and it doesn't matter what the thing is, these films are about putting art and creativity above everything else. i think that's kind of amazing.

step up all in is probably the weakest of the series, let down by a ridiculous pantomime villain and dumb subplot. also, moose never gets to do enough. he's clearly the best character and he's always sidelined for some random pretty boy. then there's the fact that the theme of the movie is that sometimes just doing something for the love of it is more important than winning or being the best, but as with step up 4, the message is kind of lost because sean's crew win and are the best at the end, and sean never really seems to learn this anyway.

but does it matter?

not really. there are some cool dance routines in this one, including one based on frankenstein and, more surprisingly, a steampunk routine. yes, step up goes steampunk in this movie. i can't say it tells a great story or that it's not flawed but if you want to watch something that will put a smile on your face (if you let it!) then you should definitely check this out.