Flop Culture: Step Up film series

The film industry is no stranger to sequels and trilogies, but every once and a while they take things just a little too far. Every two years since 2006, the industry has religiously gifted us with yet another addition to the Step Up dance film series. With this month’s release of the fourth installment, it’s time we put our foot down and say enough with the dance movies.

Now, I’ll admit that the first film of the series, Step Up, was decent. Starring Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan, it was a cute if not predictable story about a bad boy from the streets who learns to dance. But then came Step Up 2 the Streets, Step Up 3D and recently Step Up Revolution. If the fact that they use numbers instead of words in the titles didn’t tip you off, these subsequent lame dance movies have been less than stellar. Often starring dancers who’ve never even acted before, the plotlines are repetitive and uninteresting. The films serve mainly as a platform to show off lengthy dance numbers, which would be fine if this weren’t the fourth time we were seeing them.

In general, I don’t have a problem with dance movies — all I ask is they come with a somewhat original storyline and half decent acting. Sadly, even that seems to be too much to ask nowadays. It’s unfortunate that a series that probably should have stopped after one film continues to put out mediocre repeats year after year.

© Gateway Student Journalism Society — All Rights Reserved