Movie review 'Step Up All In': Leaves you in awe of the dance moves

Director: John Swetnam

Cast: Briana Evigan, Ryan Guzman, Adam G. Sevani, Misha Gabriel Hamilton

Rating: Two and a half stars

Those who go in to watch a Step Up film are fully equipped with the knowledge that the plot or a semblance of a storyline is not the most intrinsic part of the experience.

The story really is like some kind of duct-tape that holds together magnificent sequences of synchronised dancing and jaw dropping movements that not only defy gravity but also challenge one’s notion of how the human body bends. So with your focus firmly on the dance spectacle, you enter the world of Step Up once again as gorgeous men and women make dancing seem like the easiest act and acting seem like the toughest.

The first Step Up was actually a brilliant film that blew the socks out of a generation that hadn't heard of Dirty Dancing. It also introduced the world to this delicious piece of talent called Channing Tatum. But that's for another day. With every progressive film in the franchise, the slickness of the moves and the finesse of the camerawork have improved and elevated the dancing experience.

Sadly the filmmakers have churned out yet another film about the proverbial underdog winning big at a mega televised dancing competition. How does one make about 5 films on precisely the same plotline, hiding behind the contortionist nature of the protagonists? I was done with that kind of stuff when Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi released but clearly the dance loving janta couldn't care less.

So anyway, here's the story: Sean Asa (Guzman) and his dance troupe, The Mob, are struggling to find a foothold in Los Angeles, with audition after audition yielding no success. Frustrated, the crew heads home to Miami, leaving Sean behind. It is a matter of tine before he calls up calling old friend and Step Up film regular, Moose (Sevani). Sean sets about building up a new crew with the prolific Andie (Evigan).

Then just when you feel the movie is going down a predictable path, you hope that this one will do something different. Ha! What a joke.

Step Up leaves you in awe of the dance moves and reiterates the fact that the makers have hired dancers and not actors for the flick. You can't but be struck by their dancing skills but their inability to do the same with acting is a bit too glaring. Go for it nevertheless. It's got that repackaged sense of candyfloss romance coupled with a strong sense of deja vu.