2/4  Step Up
Step Up is a misguided movie that has little to offer. There is absolutely nothing to say about the direction and screenplay here, or lack there of. Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan are both good as the two leads and the have good chemistry ... (read full)

1/4  Step Up Quick Review
Don't bother watching. Nothing original, nothing interesting. Predictable.

5/5 Up to something good
  by Alyssa A. Lappen (Earth)
This is one of the most delightful films we have seen in a long time. The story is warm, and meaningful, with excellent character development, plot, acting, dancing, and music. And it teaches morals and ethics, to boot.

Tyler Gage (Channing Tatum) is a down and out, teenage foster kid, stuck in a family with a harried foster mom, struggling to support the family; a beer guzzling, TV-addicted, couch potato "dad" and two younger foster siblings, just as lost as he is. He hangs in his run down Baltimore neighborhood with Mac Carter (Damaine Radcliff) and his little brother Skinny (De'Shawn Washington), whose mother works at night, which is when the boys routinely get into trouble.

Tyler and Mac regularly jack cars and sell them at the local chop shop. On Saturday nights, they drop in at a neighborhood night club, populated by the occasional gunslinger, but with the best break dancing anywhere. And Tyler is a natural.

One weekend night, after being threatened with a gun and fleeing the club, Tyler, Mac and Skinny run through the streets, kicking cans and carelessly tossing refuse. Then one of them accidentally hits the window at the Maryland School of the Arts. Skinny decides to smash the window completely, and before long, the boys are in. They ogle the halls and showcases until Tyler finds the auditorium and heads for the stage, awed by the costumes, sets and props, which which the boys are soon dancing--and smashing.

Tyler takes the rap for his friends, who flee into the night. Sentenced to 200 hours of community service, he at first wants nothing more than to finish his time, mopping floors, changing lights and collecting trash.

But while making repairs on a ladder one afternoon, he witnesses a series of inept male dancers trying out as the partner for Nora Clark (Jenna Dewan). They trip, they fall, they drop her. They stink. She goes through them all, and then wonders what to do. She needs a stand in until her regular partner recovers from his sprained ankle. Tyler offers to catch her. She hesitates, but when he convinces her that he's serious, she is surprised to see that he not only can catch her--but do it gracefully.

An appeal to school director Gordon (Rachel Griffiths) wins her hesitant support for Tyler to temporarily take the role. Over the next few weeks, he helps her to rework the piece, jazzing it up, and adding several more dancers he has recruited from around the school. He also convinces her to let her talented friend Miles Darby (Mario), revise the music, after Nora's erstwhile boyfriend Brett Dolan (Josh Henderson) drops Miles from his group to sign a New York recording contract.

There is some really original music here, some great dancing, and a wonderful plot, emphasizing the importance of friendships. It's a heartwarming story of success in the face of adversity, and tragedy. A great family film that teens especially will love.

--Alyssa A. Lappen

4/5 Hip hop boy meets ballet girl
  by Amanda Richards (Georgetown, Guyana)
Another worthwhile teenage film
That's set around a dance
A guy who grew up the hard way
And gets a second chance

He's basically a smart-mouthed punk
Just headed for disaster
By picking fights and boosting cars
He's gonna get there faster

While cleaning up at the Art School
He notices this girl
As luck would have it, he's the man
She needs to help her twirl

She's a driven dancing queen
Who needs to get it right
On and off and off and on
They practice, feud and fight

I'm sure you've guessed how this one ends
With dancing and romance
But something in it strikes a chord
It's worth more than a glance



Amanda Richards, January 20, 2007


5/5 This movie is incredible!!!!!
  by sam (kentucky)
I expected good things from this movie, and i was completely blown away! Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan are spectacular dancers! Channing Tatum is also a feast for the eyes, but we knew that after She's the Man. The movie had a great plot and a beautiful love story. I hope everyone enjoys it as much as I did and I highly suggest going to see it!

5/5 "Step UP"....X IT OUT!
  by young@heart (CA)
Here it is. My favorite movie star is Ginger Rogers. Anybody seen a Rogers & Astaire movie? Their films go like this...boy meets girl, boy dances with girl, boy loses girl, boy dances with girl (again), boy gets girl. Put all that in a movie with slammin' beats, an ambitious dance student (Jenna Dewan) and a freak at freestyle street dance (Channing Tatum) and you got "Step Up". You'll enjoy it. Like I did.

5/5 BEYOND AMAZING...
  by KENI (u.s.a.)
THIS MOVIE IS AN EMOTIONAL ROLLERCOASTER FROM START TO FINISH!!! I'M USUALLY NOT MUCH OF A MOVIE PERSON AND IT TAKES QUITE A BIT TO IMPRESS ME, BUT THIS MOVIE JUST BLEW ME AWAY!!! IT CAPTURES YOU AND YOU FIND YOURSELF LOST IN THE FABULOUS DANCING THROUGH-OUT THE FILM...NOT ONLY IS THE DANCING GREAT, BUT THE CHARACTERS ARE WELL DEVELOPED AND THE PLOT IS LIKE NO OTHER!!! ALTHOUGH THIS MOVIE REMINDED ME OF 'SAVE THE LAST DANCE,' IT WAS STILL PRETTY ORIGINAL!!!