Jason KingStreetdance 3D (4/10)
May 21st 2010 22:14
:
Same Dance Film as Every Other
Category: No Category
Streetdance 3D (4/10)
The storyline of this film revolves around Carly (Nichola Burley) and her street dance crew, who are trying to contend with the loss of their dance leader and also where they can rehearse as they have lost their dance space. With time running out, Carly must win the respect of her dancing crew and find a suitable place to train for the final of the UK Street Dance Comp. While delivering sandwiches to a local Ballet school a glimmer of hope and salvation comes to Carly in the form of a Ballet teacher, Helena (played by Charlotte Rampling). She offers Carly the use of the school's facilities provided Carly agrees to instill some of the Streetdance intensity and passion into her lacklustre and classically trained Ballet students. The result is a clash of cultures, egos and temperaments.
Diversity, the winners of this year's Britain's Got Talent, have teamed up with rivals Flawless and previous victor George Sampson in the new movie StreetDance.
It seems a good storyline for a dance film but does it sound familiar? That's because it is basically every other dance film that has been around or released over the last few years. It is Step Up 1 and 2 plus the yet to be released Step Up 3D. Which brings me to the next point. Why 3D? It does absolutely nothing for this film except raise ticket prices. There are about two scenes or more like two shots that looked good in 3D and these are Matrix inspired freeze framed dance moves. Besides that it was pointless and at times annoying.
The characters are nearly all forgettable. I liked Nichola Burley as Carly and could deal with her once I got that accent through the digestive tract of my brain. I was a bit surprised at how unashamedly the director was in love/ lust with her and the one or two scenes of her dancing by herself in pretty much nothing bordered on high school student commencements to porn fantasy. There were focus shots of sweat rolling down her perfectly flat abs with the breasts framing the shot and tight little butt bent over close ups. It was ludicrous. I do admit the girl is bloody attractive and has some of the cleanest skin I have ever seen but the inclusion of making her a sexual fantasy took away from an already mediocre film.
Charlotte Rampling is great on-screen but I felt that this film did not represent the Ballet Academy as much as it should and that other films have done in the past. It looked kind of like a B grade dance studio. Ukweli Roach stood out for me as Jay - that bod of his is to die for
Haha. I also took a shine to Eddie played by George Sampson who has come a bit of a way since appearing on Britain's Got Talent. He has the young enthusiasm and cute factor but he was under utilised. His dance scene at the end was fantastic and his dance style has more to offer than basic Streetdance.
There was one redeeming factor for me with this film. The one song and dance montage blew my mind. The remix of Tiny Dancer in this film was so good I am actually going to buy the soundtrack. I just LOVE LOVE LOVED IT and it put a huge smile on my face watching the dancing to it. It made the film stay-worthy for me. It plays towards the end of the trailer.
But a film about dancing has to have impressive dancing and with so many talent shows on TV with So You Think You Can Dance being my favourite (I love you Robbie) we are all pretty much now armchair experts in all things dance, cooking and singing. So while I liked the style of streetdance and approved of the idea of mixing it up with ballet certain dance sequences in this film did not cut it due to lack of synchronicity. Streetdance, especially in this film, involves up to 20 people or "crews" all dong the same movements and these movements are a lot of the time intricate moves with hands and wrists and some booty shaking. I felt a lot of the scenes they were not in harmony together and this ruined a few performances for me. To be honest I have seen some greater performances by Robbie on So You Think You Can Dance. That being said the dancer's are having fun and it shows.
I thoroughly enjoyed the "dance off" in the nightclub but then again this has also been done before. I thought both the final performances of the movie were ok but lacked a huge impressive lift to the audience. It was very Rock Eisteddfod and while I enjoyed it they would neither have made the finals. And I am an expert here as I did make the finals for Rock Eisteddfod.
The one great dance scene was during their day out and the dancers watched another crew perform. The crew included some under 10yrs old streetdancers and I loved this - those kids kicked ass.
The film has some great choreography and dancing but the acting is very below parr - it is like watching a B grade version of Skins with So You Think You Can Dance thrown in for the mix. And it is an absolute waste of the 3D medium. Pretty much what my review will no doubt say for Step Up 3D.
To make matters worse I travelled into the city during torrential rain to see the press screening of this film. I love attending the press screenings and Paramount are always so kind to invite me. But the Dolby Digital 3D projection glasses are the worst I have ever worn. They are dreadful chunky things that fog up and if they even see a fingerprint it is stuck on the glass for eternity. I thought I could beat it this time by taking my very cool and expensive Real D 3D Aviators with me - but they didn't work with the DD 3D - I nearly cried but then my DD glasses got all excited at fogging quicker so did not. I disappointingly had to wipe the glasses about a dozen times during a 90min film. Another sad thing was it started raining on my head during the screening as water started coming through the AC vent. I got to move and was already in the front row but everyone behind me got to watch it rain into the cinema - only a large constant drip and this is no way anyone at Paramounts fault - this Rain was HEAVY. I also have to give them special thanks for this screening as I am saw the most beautiful person in years at the screening and was left breathless. I will be in attendance way more to see if I can see them again and get them to marry me, ok maybe just stalk them .
But I have digressed into Salty fantasyland again. The film is ok and if you are a huge dance fan then you may enjoy it. If after watching the best dance movie ever, Centre Stage and Footloose and that one with Swayze and some baby in a corner and you have watched Step Up 1 and 2 and are excited at the prospect of a third Step UP film then this one is for you!!! It is pretty fun and has some great dancing but could have been better. I think if you can find it in 2D then it could be preferable to watch it in this format. Commencing next Thursday 27 May with special previews on this Sunday at selected cinemas. Worth (4/10)
The storyline of this film revolves around Carly (Nichola Burley) and her street dance crew, who are trying to contend with the loss of their dance leader and also where they can rehearse as they have lost their dance space. With time running out, Carly must win the respect of her dancing crew and find a suitable place to train for the final of the UK Street Dance Comp. While delivering sandwiches to a local Ballet school a glimmer of hope and salvation comes to Carly in the form of a Ballet teacher, Helena (played by Charlotte Rampling). She offers Carly the use of the school's facilities provided Carly agrees to instill some of the Streetdance intensity and passion into her lacklustre and classically trained Ballet students. The result is a clash of cultures, egos and temperaments.
Diversity, the winners of this year's Britain's Got Talent, have teamed up with rivals Flawless and previous victor George Sampson in the new movie StreetDance.
It seems a good storyline for a dance film but does it sound familiar? That's because it is basically every other dance film that has been around or released over the last few years. It is Step Up 1 and 2 plus the yet to be released Step Up 3D. Which brings me to the next point. Why 3D? It does absolutely nothing for this film except raise ticket prices. There are about two scenes or more like two shots that looked good in 3D and these are Matrix inspired freeze framed dance moves. Besides that it was pointless and at times annoying.
The characters are nearly all forgettable. I liked Nichola Burley as Carly and could deal with her once I got that accent through the digestive tract of my brain. I was a bit surprised at how unashamedly the director was in love/ lust with her and the one or two scenes of her dancing by herself in pretty much nothing bordered on high school student commencements to porn fantasy. There were focus shots of sweat rolling down her perfectly flat abs with the breasts framing the shot and tight little butt bent over close ups. It was ludicrous. I do admit the girl is bloody attractive and has some of the cleanest skin I have ever seen but the inclusion of making her a sexual fantasy took away from an already mediocre film.
Charlotte Rampling is great on-screen but I felt that this film did not represent the Ballet Academy as much as it should and that other films have done in the past. It looked kind of like a B grade dance studio. Ukweli Roach stood out for me as Jay - that bod of his is to die for
Haha. I also took a shine to Eddie played by George Sampson who has come a bit of a way since appearing on Britain's Got Talent. He has the young enthusiasm and cute factor but he was under utilised. His dance scene at the end was fantastic and his dance style has more to offer than basic Streetdance.There was one redeeming factor for me with this film. The one song and dance montage blew my mind. The remix of Tiny Dancer in this film was so good I am actually going to buy the soundtrack. I just LOVE LOVE LOVED IT and it put a huge smile on my face watching the dancing to it. It made the film stay-worthy for me. It plays towards the end of the trailer.
But a film about dancing has to have impressive dancing and with so many talent shows on TV with So You Think You Can Dance being my favourite (I love you Robbie) we are all pretty much now armchair experts in all things dance, cooking and singing. So while I liked the style of streetdance and approved of the idea of mixing it up with ballet certain dance sequences in this film did not cut it due to lack of synchronicity. Streetdance, especially in this film, involves up to 20 people or "crews" all dong the same movements and these movements are a lot of the time intricate moves with hands and wrists and some booty shaking. I felt a lot of the scenes they were not in harmony together and this ruined a few performances for me. To be honest I have seen some greater performances by Robbie on So You Think You Can Dance. That being said the dancer's are having fun and it shows.
I thoroughly enjoyed the "dance off" in the nightclub but then again this has also been done before. I thought both the final performances of the movie were ok but lacked a huge impressive lift to the audience. It was very Rock Eisteddfod and while I enjoyed it they would neither have made the finals. And I am an expert here as I did make the finals for Rock Eisteddfod.
The one great dance scene was during their day out and the dancers watched another crew perform. The crew included some under 10yrs old streetdancers and I loved this - those kids kicked ass.
The film has some great choreography and dancing but the acting is very below parr - it is like watching a B grade version of Skins with So You Think You Can Dance thrown in for the mix. And it is an absolute waste of the 3D medium. Pretty much what my review will no doubt say for Step Up 3D.
To make matters worse I travelled into the city during torrential rain to see the press screening of this film. I love attending the press screenings and Paramount are always so kind to invite me. But the Dolby Digital 3D projection glasses are the worst I have ever worn. They are dreadful chunky things that fog up and if they even see a fingerprint it is stuck on the glass for eternity. I thought I could beat it this time by taking my very cool and expensive Real D 3D Aviators with me - but they didn't work with the DD 3D - I nearly cried but then my DD glasses got all excited at fogging quicker so did not.
I disappointingly had to wipe the glasses about a dozen times during a 90min film. Another sad thing was it started raining on my head during the screening as water started coming through the AC vent. I got to move and was already in the front row but everyone behind me got to watch it rain into the cinema - only a large constant drip and this is no way anyone at Paramounts fault - this Rain was HEAVY. I also have to give them special thanks for this screening as I am saw the most beautiful person in years at the screening and was left breathless. I will be in attendance way more to see if I can see them again and get them to marry me, ok maybe just stalk them .
But I have digressed into Salty fantasyland again. The film is ok and if you are a huge dance fan then you may enjoy it. If after watching the best dance movie ever, Centre Stage and Footloose and that one with Swayze and some baby in a corner and you have watched Step Up 1 and 2 and are excited at the prospect of a third Step UP film then this one is for you!!! It is pretty fun and has some great dancing but could have been better. I think if you can find it in 2D then it could be preferable to watch it in this format. Commencing next Thursday 27 May with special previews on this Sunday at selected cinemas. Worth (4/10)
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Comment by Matt Shea
Comment by Jason King
Sydney Table
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The Dolby Digital 3D is woeful!!! It is Real D for me all the way - I actually fret now if I know I am going to be watching a DD3D screening as it might taint my opinion of the movie.
Very odd you would even watch this film Matt
Thanks for reading - will suss yours out in the morning over a coffee as it's off to bed for me now.