Step Up 2 the Streets review
When “Step Up” unexpectedly made $65 million two years ago, the producers quickly decided that there was more to say about freestyle hip-hop and the kids who live to dance it. A sequel arrived for Valentine’s Day with the unwieldy title “Step Up 2 the Streets.” If it performs as well, watch for “Step Up 3: the Sprained Ankle.”
“Streets” follows the formula of the original - boy and girl from different sides of the tracks meet over a shared passion - but is a step up because of exuberantly choreographed dance numbers. It stars Briana Evigan and Robert Hoffman as the couple, Andie and Chase. The setting is the streets of Baltimore. Hot on the heels of “Hairspray,” the city appears to be a miles-long dance floor.
A teenage gang that goes by the name the 410 receives a text message the night before one of their underground gyrating get-togethers. They drop everything to show off moves such as wild hand gesticulations and somersaults that leave performers bouncing along on the tops of their heads.
The 410s have Saturday night fever night and day. Their hunger to dance seems to have lowered their libido. As in the first “Step Up,” physical contact is restricted to whatever body parts touch during a street event and a couple of mild kisses at the end. It’s all so chaste, they could be in a Jane Austen movie.
Ty (Channing Tatum), the main character from the first movie, is brought back at the beginning to tie the stories together - although it’s doubtful that many in the audience will remember him. He’s the neighborhood guardian for Andie, who has lost her way since losing her mother and is about to be shipped to Texas to live with an aunt. Ty talks her into auditioning for a performing arts school owned by Chase’s hoity-toity family.
Handsome and a graceful dancer, Chase is a catch whose ex-girlfriend (R&B singer Cassie Ventura) keeps anxious tabs on him. But once Andie becomes a schoolmate, she commands his attention. Pretty soon, she recruits him and several other classmates to form their own underground dance group and square off against 410.
Evigan brings a sweetness to her first leading role, and she and Hoffman make a good fit whether dancing or staring meaningfully at each other. She has the raspy voice and girl-next-door quality of June Allyson. In one scene, she changes out of her cut-off T-shirt and jeans into a white sundress and becomes a virginal 1950s heroine. She’s one young actress to watch.
The musical numbers are plentiful, and they help divert you from a plot riddled with holes. For instance, how exactly does dirt-poor orphan Andie pay for a private school and how can the school’s director leave a party filled with potential donors and go catch some street dancing?
Somebody must have lectured first-time feature film director Jon Chu on reaction shots. He uses far too many, keeping the camera on the face of an actor so long it becomes comical. We get the idea that Andie’s guardian is concerned about her and Chase’s brother is angry at him.
“Streets” is derivative not only of “Step Up” but also of “Fame” and “Save the Last Dance.” But Chu, aided by three choreographers - one of whom, Jamal Sims, worked on “Hairspray” - keeps the action going.
A finale has the young people all dancing in the rain. Like almost everything else about the movie, it has been done before. But it’s still foot-stomping fun.
– Advisory: Mild violence.
E-mail Ruthe Stein at rstein@sfchronicle.com.
