Step Up 4: Miami Heat

This is the fourth film in the Step Up franchise (if you can call it that) and it doesn’t stray from the template of the last couple of films, i.e. a flimsy plot, bad acting, but countered with some cracking dance set ups and a feel that everyone’s having a good time and not to take things too seriously. The storyline is a voice over classic: “Emily arrives in Miami with aspirations of becoming a professional dancer. She falls for Sean the leader of a local dance crew. However her father is planning on tearing down the local neighbourhood where Sean & Co live. Can she fulfil her dream? Can Sean’s crew dance themselves out of the situation? Will Emily’s father have a change of heart? Find out next week on Step Up 4: Miami Heat”. Well you already know all the answers to those questions and if you think the bad guy developer isn’t clapping in rhythm to the tunes by the end, well, you’re watching the wrong film. In effect this is basically a musical play, but on the big screen. Obviously a film such as this is all about the dance routines and there are some great ones here with the last two in particular employing some original ideas and giving the film a royal send off. It’s a shame then that the performances are somewhat ruined by the use of 3D. Instead of immersing you in the frenetic steps and jumps the effect of the third dimension (yeah, whatever) makes things look more robotic and quite unnatural, almost as if things are being enhanced by computer effects or messing with the camera speed. In addition the editing of the dance scenes is a bit too hyper with too many cuts spoiling the overall broth and it gives the impression that there was too much going on at once for director Scott Speer and he couldn’t decide what to keep and what to ditch. Not too worry though as I expect they’ll be another opportunity to strap on your pumps in a few years time.

The OC Film Sting Final Verdict
Kinetic and fun for fans of dance, but unlikely to have any appeal outside the target audience. Rating: 6/10.