Step Up 2: The Streets was Chu’s first directed feature, and he’d return to the franchise with Step Up 3D. And despite his later, grander musical work, it’s the Step Up franchise that has some of my favorite Chu-directed musical sequences.
If you have seen one Step Up movie — or any dance movie in general, to be honest — you are familiar with the plot. And neither Step Up 2: The Streets nor Step Up 3D will move the dial much; as the critical consensus (topping out on Rotten Tomatoes at 46% with the third movie) can attest, if you’ve seen one, you’ve likely seen them all. A dancer caught between two worlds, forced to conform but dreaming of something they feel deeper. Ultimately they find the fusion of two forms, and (gasp!) win the competition/showcase/emotional battle they’ve been fighting. But that’s all to say: We’re not watching for
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