Tanya Batson-Savage, Freelance Writer

Channing Tatum (left) and Jenna Dewan in a scene from the movie 'Step Up'. - Contributed

Step Up is not the best dance movie ever made. Step Up is not the best hip-hop based movie ever made. But Step Up is the clearest indication that hip hop has crossed over, all the way over to the lighter side of cool.

Step Up is essentially a hip hop fairy tale where both main characters are white.

Of course, the greatest sign that black culture has gone mainstream is when the black characters are reduced to the supporting role and that is exactly what takes place in Step Up. It is probably also the most significant thing in a flick that is alright enough, but never steps up to being astounding.

Directed by Anne Fletcher and written by Duane Addler and Melissa Rosenberg, Step Up stars Channing Tatum (Coach Carter and She's The Man) and Jenna Dewan. When done right, dance movies have a magic that is not easily approximated by other films. Whether it is the breakneck energetic moves of Beat Street, the joy of watching Fred Astaire groove, or the ecstasy of Dirty Dancing, when a movie about dancing gets it right, it struts in a whole new light.

Step Up has enough cool moves to make it an interesting dance flick. But it is when the dancing stops that it starts to fall short. With the exception of the dance, it arrives empty-handed, and a dance flick takes more than dance to make it soar with true majesty.

Bright future

The plot is far too predictable. Like a mundane two-step, one can see where every possible twist in the plot will fall. Step Up is the story of Tyler Gage (Tatum) who gets a chance to discover another world and find his way to a bright future when he gets community service at an art school. There, he will learn how to take his art to another level, and there he may be able to find a future that does not involve crime.

Before then, he and his friend Mac (Damian Radcliff) and Mac's younger brother Skinny (De'Shawn Washington) spent their time playing basketball, watching television, or stealing cars. All three are busily trotting toward a future that ends with them being statistics.

The film falls short because the characters are able to talk about their passion for the art form and a yearning for succeeding in life, but they are unable to convey it either in the dance or in how the rest of the movie unfolds.

So Step Up is unable to step up to the grade laid by either Dirty Dancing or Save the Last Dance, its closest predecessors. It tries to deal with the same issues those two tackle, but it lacks their pulsation and energy. The flick manages to be entertaining enough. It's got moves but it lacks heart.