Saturday, February 9, 2008

Passion, Power, Moves!

OK. So. I just finished watching Step Up and the groves are still making my heart beat a little faster. The beats, the rhythm, the classically-trained string instruments and hip-hop. I don't know where to begin. I could barely figure out to spell rhythm. Rythm. Rythym. Rithym. OK, so I finally got it.

First, the characters. I don't know 'bout you, but I believed it. I believed every second of it. The friends, the brothers, the thugs. Yeah, I know. I know. You're going to say that it's all the same, every high school talent movie, all the players, all the roles. But even if thats true (which I'm not saying it isn't), this one had heart. Soul. Something.

Sure, precocious, talented high school kids playing precocious, talented high school kids. What's to go wrong? But there are always things that can go wrong. Acting is not about just knowing the lines, right; we all know that. It's about how we feel watching it, not just do we believe them, but do we FEEL them? Do we want them to work out their issues, make things happen, make "it" happen, whatever that "it" may be. And here, I submit that the answer is YES. With an exclamation point. (!) (Like that.) God dammit, I even stood up and cheered. Am I the only one in the house that clapped? (and cried?)

Not bad. Not bad, at all for a MTV-style movie: young, fast, and lots packed in. But I give it the thumbs up. AND, I'll probably make my way over to the local theater to see the sequel on or about Valentine's Day, when Step Up 2 premiers. Yes, a cheesy "date movie," but any guy that brings his sweetheart to this movie is making a good move ;)

1 comment:

Dominick M. said...

In all honesty, I saw the first, and you're totally right; as date movies go, one could do a lot worse than this.