If you've seen one break-dance flick, then let's be frank, you've seen them all. The blue print is the same each and every time, lots of awesome dance sequences with gap-filling scenes of excruciating acting, non-existent plot and direlogue that wouldn't feel out of place in a Z-grade horror film. With those standards in mind, the most effective entries into this genre do two very simple things: maximise the eye-boggling dance routines and minimise the yawn-inducing guff that fills the rest of the runtime.
Step Up 3D only gets half of the above equation right. An unnecessary amount of time is wasted on boring dross like predictable plot twists and deep and meaningful (read: long and laughable) conversations about how profoundly dancing can affect people. Honestly, who cares? From the moment the main character tells his new BFF that "he's BFAB, born from a beatbox" in the first ten minutes, all further dialogue should've been ceased immediately. I'm serious, they should've let the music and moves do the talking for the remaining 90 minutes. That way our gag-reflex wouldn't have been tested by Vinson (ex-Home and Away star) and Malambri's acting.
When the bodies are twirling, contorting, flinging, jumping, smashing or moving like a robot the film unsurprisingly finds its legs. Choreographed with flair and panache, the set-pieces incorporate the 3D technology decently enough by having dancers approach the camera with fast, whippy hand movements, however the depth of the stage was employed more successfully by its British counterpart StreetDance 3D. Regardless, there are still a handful of entertaining dance-offs that impress on varying levels.
Replete with the freshest hip-hop tunes and sporadic inventiveness – mainly in the form of illuminated costumes – this trilogy-closer may tickle your fancy, but that is wholly reliant on whether you're BFAB or not.
2.5 out of 5 (1 - Rubbish, 2 - Ordinary, 3 - Good, 4 - Excellent, 5 - Classic)
