In Scott Speer’s Step Up Revolution, dance is everything, and that’s a lucky thing since the story is so familiar and its rudimentary treatment of young love with its inherent jealousies, break-ups, and reconciliations so by-the-numbers bland. But the dancing: it’s creative, transformative, often sublime, and it is the only reason for watching this movie either in 2D or 3D. Otherwise, these characters and situations have all been seen before in both musical and nonmusical films.
Step Up Revolution 3D (Blu-ray + Digital Copy)
Directed by Scott Speer
Studio: Lionsgate
Year: 2012
Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1 1080p AVC codec
Running Time: 99 minutes
Rating: PG-13
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 English; Dolby Digital 5.1 Spanish
Subtitles: SDH, Spanish
Region: A
MSRP: $ 39.99
Release Date: November 27, 2012
Review Date: November 23, 2012
The Film
3/5
Miami residents have been both thrilled and annoyed of late as a mysterious crew of dancers called The Mob has been appearing at the most unexpected moments and conducting a series of flash mobs which, while creative and mesmerizing, can also cause traffic snarls and disrupt businesses. The two young men behind these creative endeavors are best friends Sean (Ryan Guzman) and Eddy (Misha Gabriel) who have collected a diverse crew of artists who really know how to put on shows that crowds love and who are trying to make viral You Tube videos that will help them win a contest worth $100,000. Into Sean’s life comes the beautiful and talented Emily (Kathryn McCormick) who wants a career in professional dancing even though her business entrepreneur father (Peter Gallagher) doesn’t believe she has what it takes. Without telling the crew that Emily’s father is one of Miami’s most powerful businessmen, one who’s behind a land development deal that could bulldoze their home turf Spring Gardens and replace it with high rise buildings, Sean has Emily join the group, and she immediately has a plan to change their focus from performance art to protest art. But what will happen when the crew finds out who their sensational new dancer really is?
Unlike the previous Step Up films, this latest entry in the franchise doesn’t merely focus on hip-hop competitions. The flash mobs which are mounted for this movie employ many different styles of dance (witness the diverse choreographers Jamal Sims, Christopher Scott, Travis Wall, and Chuck Maldonato, all of whom have very different dance styles and strengths), and that’s proven from the very first one “Let’s Go” which backs up traffic on Ocean Drive to perform a sensational number with the dancers and a number of cars which have their own choreographed moves. From then on, the production numbers at an art museum (the best and most moodily effective of the pieces), at city council headquarters (very styklized and effective), and the all-stops-out finale on beachfront property all create singular moods and employ dancers doing amazing moves that venture into hip-hop but also go beyond it. As for screenwriter Amanda Brody’s tired romantic scenario of the two young lovers from different sides of the tracks who find themselves kindred spirits in dance and then have a tedious third act break-up which ruins each of their temporary objectives, the less said of it, the better. The movie is saved by the terrific chemistry the two young actor/dancers have with one another, but they’re not playing anything that hasn’t been seen in movies for the last one hundred years.
Ryan Guzman may have been a model and an MMA fighter in a previous life, but he has a naturalness before the camera that’s entirely infectious, and the fact that he’s a much less experienced dancer than his co-star is cleverly hidden by expert camerawork and blocking. Kathryn McCormick made her name on TV’s So You Think You Can Dance, but her acting skills are still in great need of development. Misha Gabriel gets to play suspicious best pal to Sean in a very clichéd role, but he does what he can with it. So does Peter Gallagher who plays the hard-headed father who doesn’t believe in his daughter’s talent until he’s finally forced to see her perform (one wonders where he was during the years before her surprise reveal as part of The Mob that her terpsichorean skills should be such a revelation). Cleopatra Coleman as the group’s DJ, Stephen "tWitch" Boss who’s The Mob’s lead hip-hop artist, and Michael "Xeno" Langebeck as the group’s official artist Mercury also make worthwhile appearances.
Video Quality
4.5/5
3D implementation – 4/5
The film’s theatrical 2.40:1 aspect ratio is faithfully delivered in a 1080p transfer using the AVC codec. Sharpness is outstanding, and colors practically jump off the screen in their beautifully hued but always controlled magnificence. Flesh tones are always natural, and black levels are superlative. In fact, except for some fleeting moiré patterns that show up on building facades in the distance and which momentarily take the eye away from its principal focus, this would be a reference quality transfer. The film has been divided into 24 chapters.
The use of 3D here is not quite as aggressive as it was in the last franchise installment Step Up 3D, but the director has made sure that there are things like beer and sand flung at the camera at random moments. The kicking out of legs during hip-hop numbers has been mainly reserved for the finale dance sequence. Elsewhere, depth is good if not greatly enhanced by the extra dimension, and the director has made sure that 3D is employed strategically during the other numbers where dancers in the foreground and background appear on different planes to great effect.
Audio Quality
4.5/5
With well more than half the film given over to musical production numbers, the DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 sound mix is used authoritatively in all of those moments. Music envelopes the listener constantly with effective spread through the entire soundstage of the succession of pop, rap, rock, and salsa numbers. Elsewhere, the soundstage isn’t always maximized with sound effects not always being used in both the fronts and rears but concentrated instead on the front soundstage. Dialogue has been well recorded and has been placed in the center channel.
Special Features
4/5
The audio commentary is dominated by director Scott Speer with co-stars Ryan Guzman and Kathryn McCormick also contributing. The threesome doesn’t really add great amounts of detail to the discussion of the film’s production, but their genuine pleasure in being part of the film is very evident.
All of the bonus video features are presented in 1080p.
“Becoming a Star” features director Scott Speer, producer Adam Shankman, and choreographer Jamal Sims discussing their luck in finding co-stars Kathryn McCormick and Ryan Guzman for the movie. This runs 5 ¼ minutes.
“Choreography” features interviews with Jamal Sims, Travis Wall, and Chris Scott discussing their work on the movie focusing on their own strengths as dancers and artists. This runs 10 ½ minutes.
“Dancing on Their Own” is a behind-the-scenes glimpse at some of the background dancers in the film wiling away their down time by improvising new dance moves for the others to see. This runs 5 minutes.
“Making the Mob” finds producers Adam Shankman and Jennifer Gibgot along with director Scott Speer discussing casting the major parts in the film especially discussing which dancers from previous Step Up films they wanted to bring back for this one. It runs 10 minutes.
There are two music videos: “Goin’ In” features Jennifer Lopez, Flo Rida, and Lil Jon while “Hands in the Air” stars Timbaland and Ne-Yo. Both run 4 ¼ minutes each.
The Flash Mob Index allows the viewer to be carried back to each of the six flash mobs found in the movie.
There are three deleted scenes which can be watched individually or in one 3 ½-minute montage.
The disc features promo trailers for Step Up Dance Workout, Twilight: Breaking Dawn, and The Perks of Being a Wallflower.
The disc contains both the 2D and 3D versions on the same disc along with enclosed instructions for downloading the digital copy.
In Conclusion
3.5/5 (not an average)
Step Up Revolution is the fourth in the series of franchise dance films, but it has a decidedly different take on the dancing which is a welcome change from the previous three movies. Picture and sound are mostly stunning, and fans of the movies will find this one a pleasure in either 2D or 3D.
Matt Hough
Charlotte, NC
