Spring Break
The Streets proves you can't dance around a bad screen play
Issue date: 2/20/08 Section: Arts & Entertainment
Tatum's entrance is just a slight cameo. He managed to be charming in Step Up, but in the sequel, he loses all credibility whenever he opens his mouth. Through what seems more like a badly-made PSA for the Maryland School of the Arts (MSA), Gage tries to convince Andie to audition for the prestigious dance school that got him out of trouble. When Andie refuses, Gage challenges her to a dance battle, performed in the middle of the club that magically has trampolines inserted under its floorboards. Gage becomes drastically more likeable through his dancing, while Andie looks more like a mime than a hip-hop dancer as she throws up more hand signals in the air than actual choreography. After Gage rhythmically obliterates her in the battle, he convinces her caregiver to give Andie a second chance at MSA and informs Andie of her forthcoming audition.
MSA is painted as a professional bureaucracy headed by the same overly pretentious and pompous ballet teachers that graced the scenes of Save the Last Dance, who scorn Andie when she walks in clad in street clothes-or baggy jeans, a midriff-bearing top and a baseball cap.
The storyline following is nothing original-Andie shocks her pristine ballet teachers with her raw, hip-hop dancing and is urged to conform into a traditional dancer. While trying to fit in, Andie neglects The 410, who ostracize her from their team. She remains an outsider at MSA and is befriended only by the bizarrely interesting Moose (Adam G. Sevani).
Luckily, Andie also catches the eye of the school "all-star," Chase Collins (Robert Hoffman). Popularized by Nick Cannon's Wild N' Out, Hoffman shows off remarkable dance skills that have been featured on both the show and MTV's U Got Served. Hoffman's acting range stretches further than improv, but with unbearably clichéd lines, he doesn't get a chance to prove himself as anything more than a cute boy with hip-hop skills.
Once Collins discovers Andie's street roots, he urges her to start a crew of MSA dancers to perform at The Streets. The mélange of freaks and geeks Collins and Andie dig up are an opportunity for the film to overfill with color and originality, as loveably offbeat characters like foreign exchange student Jenny Kido (Mari Koda), daredevil stunt-master Monster (Luis Rosado) and a kid who could be the lovechild of Steve Erkel and Ludacris, Smiles (LaJon Dantzler), hit the screen with awe-inspiring skills. Moose also joins the crew, as a closet dancer who didn't make the cut get into MSA's dance program. Unfortunately, each has only about two or three lines and no characters besides Andie and Collins really develop.
MSA is painted as a professional bureaucracy headed by the same overly pretentious and pompous ballet teachers that graced the scenes of Save the Last Dance, who scorn Andie when she walks in clad in street clothes-or baggy jeans, a midriff-bearing top and a baseball cap.
The storyline following is nothing original-Andie shocks her pristine ballet teachers with her raw, hip-hop dancing and is urged to conform into a traditional dancer. While trying to fit in, Andie neglects The 410, who ostracize her from their team. She remains an outsider at MSA and is befriended only by the bizarrely interesting Moose (Adam G. Sevani).
Luckily, Andie also catches the eye of the school "all-star," Chase Collins (Robert Hoffman). Popularized by Nick Cannon's Wild N' Out, Hoffman shows off remarkable dance skills that have been featured on both the show and MTV's U Got Served. Hoffman's acting range stretches further than improv, but with unbearably clichéd lines, he doesn't get a chance to prove himself as anything more than a cute boy with hip-hop skills.
Once Collins discovers Andie's street roots, he urges her to start a crew of MSA dancers to perform at The Streets. The mélange of freaks and geeks Collins and Andie dig up are an opportunity for the film to overfill with color and originality, as loveably offbeat characters like foreign exchange student Jenny Kido (Mari Koda), daredevil stunt-master Monster (Luis Rosado) and a kid who could be the lovechild of Steve Erkel and Ludacris, Smiles (LaJon Dantzler), hit the screen with awe-inspiring skills. Moose also joins the crew, as a closet dancer who didn't make the cut get into MSA's dance program. Unfortunately, each has only about two or three lines and no characters besides Andie and Collins really develop.
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