Whoa.. 

That’s all I got. Whoa….. wait no I have some reservations. 

I love the whole concept of street dancing. A lot of this is inspired much by Michael Jackson who started his own thing all together back in the days when he was not hunted by the paparazzi for things he did or did not do. Michael Jackson is still one the most forefront people in the dancing industry that everyone has tried to grab a piece of in their own style of dance. You can’t not dance and not do a Michael Jackson somewhere. 

Anyway, I had already seen ‘ Step Up ’ the movie a while back and when my mister Soon Wei told me to go catch ‘ Step Up 2 The Streets‘ – it was in my wanted dance movie list. I just finished watching it. And man you gotta love the dancers in this piece, but I have to say that very unfortunately the storyline was a tad cheesy and the acting was so so. Nothing really solid in terms of deep characters. 

But that’s ok cause Step Up 2 is about the dance. It’s about physical movement, about expressing oneself through artistic movement, so I can forgive them for that. I’m not jumping up and down with the movie, but reading ABOUT the movie and the behind the scenes, sure gets me motivated. 

I’m especially very very impressed by how mature and honest the main star of Step Up 2 is, Robert Hoffman who plays the character Chase Collins. The hot dance star of the well respected MSA, who falls for street dancer Andie played by Briana Evigan. I wanna concentrate more on Robert for after reading this. I have even more respect for this talented young bloak. He has a real heart for wanting to let the industry now about the dancers who are hidden in the background but work their butts off.

 

“Me and everyone in the film are all dancers. Dancers are the least respected and least paid, but the hardest working of anyone in the industry. We’re treated below extras, but we work harder than anybody. Doing the number wasn’t the hard part. We’re used to dancing a lot. What was hard was when we did re-shoots. We had to do re-shoots to get a better angle on one part, and it was on a night that was 30 degrees outside. We were at the Sepulveda Dam re-shooting, and they had these big tanks of water that weren’t insulated, whatsoever, so it was like ice needles hitting your skin. We just had a short amount of choreography that they needed to cover better, so we would do it, and then they’d play the music back and we would do it one more time. They had hot tubs and we’d sit in the hot tubs, jump out and they’d say, ‘Okay, go!.’ We’d do it one time and they’d say, ‘Okay, one more time.’ Every single one of us, on the second take, got these really weird eyeball headaches. Our eyes started to have these terrible pains in them. I don’t know what it was, but the cold and the moves caused it. That was Hell day.”  

- you can read more on Robert Hoffman’s experience here as well as Briana’s debut on Step Up 2 and her first onscreen kiss.. hehe.

I was a tad bit disappointed with the ending dance sequence which was the one everyone is raving about. The dance sequence in the rain which was probably the hardest thing to do. I have utmost respect for the choreographers – Dave Scott was the choreographer for the MSA Crew, the 410 was done by ‘Hi Hat’, and Jamal Sims was the overseer of all the choreography, and worked on Briana’s solos. 

What disappointed me was while the rain was terribly cool. But it was because it was done in the rain, that’s what made the dance so cool. Yes given the fact that it made the moves even harder to do. But i found the 410 choreography stronger than the MSA Crew, who are suppose to be the ‘winners’ of the street dance. They were some fabulous stuff happening for the MSA Crew, but i felt that there wasn’t alot shown for Briana’s skills at the end. I was expecting like tons of stunts and what not from her. Plus the ending pose was… ngeh. Yeah yeah I can’t dance as well as her, but come on!!! It’s the ending pose. Don’t just splat water into the camera or stand there straight up looking macho. Pose!! 

Another reason why I say the 410 was cooler. There was a sequence where two guys did break dancing .. in sync!! Their movements were so similar it was sick. Great angle shot. But hey.. it’s still a nice movie to get your heart pumping. With moves as solid and wicked as that. I don’t mind watching again.

Check it out man..