Fourth film steps up

By Beth Schumacher

Flash Mob! The newest addition to the Step Up series, Step Up Revolution, follows the creative dancing styles of a flash mobbing crew who call themselves “The Mob.” The dance crew consists of younger residents living in an urban Miami community, where the story unfolds.

Best friends and Mob starters Sean (Ryan Guzman) and Eddy (Misha Gabriel Hamilton) are wait staff at what seems to be the most popular hotel in Miami. While on break, Sean meets the lovely Emily (Kathryn McCormick) and is immediately intrigued by her incredibly bold dance moves which were provoked by a dance-off at the outdoor club of the hotel.

Naturally, they fall in love. The plot thickens once its revealed that Emily is the daughter of the hotel owner. Incidentally, Emily’s father is planning on building over the Mob’s home turf, ruining any chances for the dance crew and their families to prosper. The chemistry between these two becomes dangerously troubled, instantly creating that star-crossed lovers feel we all know and love.

With her dreams of becoming a professional dancer in mind, Emily puts all loyalty to her father aside and joins the Mob to help the cause. Several dance scenes that stick it to the bourgeois occur (in questionable places), and they attempt to save their home by showing they can positively bring out the culture of Miami through dance.

The movie’s talented cast incorporates both current and classical dance moves into their flash mob routines, opening eyes to this recent cultural phenomenon. It helps that quirky characters such as Penelope (Cleopatra Coleman), the resident DJ, and Mercury (Michael Langebeck), the talented street artist, allow viewers to see more than just another typical choreographed love story.

All in all, for being the fourth of its kind, the movie has a decent vibe. A few scenes were nauseatingly cheesy, but that’s expected with any movie directed toward a predominately teen audience.

Although the aim is probably not to promote using remote public areas such as museums and restaurants as your own personal dance studio or protest area, it definitely stirs up some desires to do so.

If for nothing else, see the movie for the flash mob scenes. The brilliant choreography really does make it worth adding to your summer movie list.