Step Up (Special Dance Edition) / Step Up 2 : The Streets [DVD] [2006]

Description

Product Description Double bill of dance dramas. In 'Step Up' (2006), Channing Tatum stars as Tyler Gage, a rough street kid with raw talent. When Tyler finds himself doing community service at a school for the performing arts, he meets Nora (Jenna Dewan), a beautiful and privileged classically-trained dancer who's searching for a temporary replacement for her injured dance partner. Spying Tyler's smooth moves, Nora decides to take a chance on him. But as they begin training, tension builds, tempers flare and the differences in their backgrounds come to the fore. Will Tyler let these difficulties get in the way of his dreams? In the sequel, 'Step Up 2 The Streets' (2008), Andie (Briana Evigan) is a member of an elite inner-city dance crew called the 410. When the 410 pretend to be muggers on a subway car and then stage an impromptu dance show for the somewhat bewildered passengers, Andie's guardian (Sonja Sohn of HBO's 'The Wire') ships her off to the Maryland School of the Arts. Andie's urban street style, of course, goes against the grain of the strait-laced school. Then Tyler Gauge, the main character from the original film, challenges Andie to a dance-off. If Andie loses, she agrees to take the school seriously and start attending classes. The film culminates in an underground dance battle with her old crew, the 410. .co.uk Review Step Up happily joins the long line of movies intoxicated by sexy bodies in motion. When an overachieving dancer (Jenna Dewan, Take the Lead) at an East Coast art school loses her partner just before a big showcase, her only possible replacement is a young tough (Channing Tatum, She's the Man) doing community service as a janitor. From there, Step Up slams together a folio of cliches, from prissy-rich-girl-gets-loosened-up-by-poor-boy to hoodlum-learns-the-error-of-his-ways-through-personal-tragedy to artist-discovers-his-voice. It's set in one of those performing arts schools where the students burst into spontaneous synchronized dance at parties. But Step Up, directed by choreographer Anne Fletcher, has a relaxed kinetic momentum and enough texture to give the nonsense just a hint of realistic grit. More than anything, Step Up shows off hunky Channing Tatum. With his sleepy eyes, broad jaw, and sloping neck, Tatum looks like an Easter Island statue come to life. His acting range may be limited, but Tatum has a definite lazy charisma; even when dancing full tilt, he looks like he just woke up and is still dreaming of the night before. Step Up also features Rachel Griffiths (Six Feet Under) as the requisite tough-but-loving-authority-figure. --Bret Fetzer