Step Up 2:The StreetsA step ahead of the rest February 20,
2008 1:08:00 PM
For a sequel to a movie that was a shameless redux of all dance romances before it, Step Up 2 is a step ahead of the rest. True, the acting is flimsy, but it has humor, plenty of energetic dance numbers, and enough oddball characters to shore up the predictable arc. Andie (Briana Evigan) rolls with the 4-1-0, an inner-city dance troupe that pulls “pranks” by performing on a crowded subway during rush hour. (If you ride the Red Line, you’ve seen Boston’s version.) She gets a chance to attend an elite Baltimore arts school (same one from the original), and the two sides of her life collide. Not a bad deal as it turns out, as she has two hunky studs (Black Thomas and Robert Hoffman), one in each milieu. The ambiguous commentary on race and class takes second billing once director Jon Chu lights up the back-alley sets and lets the dancers loose. 98 minutes | Boston Common + Fenway + Fresh Pond + Chestnut Hill + suburbs
|
|
|
- John Hodgman holds forth on eels, mole men, and Macs
- Bill Gage has Down syndrome. And his band rocks
- An Obama win in November would be historic for reasons beyond race
- Never mind its tough-girl alt-porn feminism: SuicideGirls has already moved on to a new generation
- Some Things at Trinity
- The governor’s gaming legislation crapped out, but are casinos still alive in a compromise? Plus, a school-budget crisis could start a political firestorm.
- An Obama win in November would be historic for reasons beyond race
- Bill Gage has Down syndrome. And his band rocks
- Raw power
- Rawson bridges two distinctly different eras in journalism
- Michael Morse’s Rescuing Providence
- Gamm’s Boston Marriage is a ticklish toss-off
|
-
Strange but slickly done
-
Another Martin Lawrence shtick
-
A chilling gangland epic
-
A grand idea
-
A rich kid on the road to comeuppance
-
Ever shirtless, ever silly
-
Oodles of fun
-
Inadvertent camp
-
No pulse
|
- More gripping than highlight reels
- Not scary and a measly PG-13
- Predictable, pointless, and sad
- Repackaged stereotypes
- Everyone calls you "dude"
- Cold feet and Nikes
- Strange but slickly done
- A novel transformation
- The Narragansetts’ Stories in Stone
- Clever, clever conceit
|
|
|
|