Step Up 4: Miami Heat Reviews
Top CriticIt's equal parts 'Flashdance,' 'Burlesque' and 'Lambada', all parts ludicrous - but we aren't here for the story any more than we watch Béla Tarr for the salsa numbers.
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| Original Score: 3/5
There's too much color and energy and frenzy in this movie to discount it entirely, but it has a disconcerting tendency to undercut its best notions with some singularly awful moves.
With the most wooden leads of the series to date - an MMA fighter and a "So You Think You Can Dance" alum - the drama between the dancing has never felt more interminable.
"Step Up: You've Seen All This Before" would be more accurate, but Summit Entertainment's marketing department knows that wouldn't help sell tickets.
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| Original Score: 2/4
Delivers plenty of spectacular fancy footwork in what is otherwise a flat-footed fantasy.
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| Original Score: 1.5/4
While dance purists won't be impressed by the energetic and athletic choreography -- the dancers have clearly learned routines but not necessarily technique -- date-movie audiences will likely want to go out dancing afterward themselves, and that's fun.
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| Original Score: 2.5/4
The choreography is solid throughout, but director Scott Speer gets in his own way every time, relentlessly shifting camera angles to close-ups and reaction shots when he should be letting us witness the spectacle.
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| Original Score: 2/4
There isn't a franchise around that matches the kids' moves in the Step Up series. We just need a better reason to dance along.
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| Original Score: 1.5/4
No one goes to a "Step Up" movie for the plot or the romance. Only the dancing matters here.
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| Original Score: 3/5
It seems only fair to start with the one thing that's right with it: It's not dead. It should be, but it's not.
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| Original Score: 1/4
Though the location-specific choreography looks like it could be impressive, the film's frantic cutting style makes it difficult to simply enjoy bodies moving in space.
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| Original Score: 1.5/5
Will the next "Step Up" tackle the cutting-edge trend of planking?
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| Original Score: 2/5
Contrary to its message, it will not change the world. But the dancing will make you sit up and take notice.
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| Original Score: 2.5/4
The plot is pure boilerplate, yet the draw of this franchise has always been its fancy footwork, and the movie's stuttering, herky-jerky spectacles of impassioned movement are pretty extraordinary.
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| Original Score: 3/5
Not as cringe-worthy as you would expect from the fourth "Step Up" installment.
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| Original Score: 2/4
Sadly, somewhere between a split and a fist pump, Revolution fell flat, and I found myself wishing for Magic Mike in 3-D.
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| Original Score: 2.5/4
Despite their infectious energy and some mind-blowing moves, there's a chaotic formlessness to even the best of these set pieces
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| Original Score: 2.5/5
She's a rich daddy's girl! He's from the wrong side of the tracks! They bridge their socio-economic gap through the power of dance! Rinse, repeat.
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| Original Score: 2.5/5
[Guzman and McCormick] zero acting experience - and it shows. Same goes for the first-time movie director, Scott Speer, who can't coax even a passable performance from his amateurish cast...
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| Original Score: 1.5/4
"Step Up: Revolution" is the fourth of the "Step Up" movies, a series of unconnected stories that serve as showcases for the kinds of young stars who sincerely hope they'll soon be in better movies.
Full Review
| Original Score: 2/4
More is not necessarily better, even when it comes to hot bodies and smooth dance moves.
Step Up Revolution, the fourth entry in the venerable dance franchise, is a narrative failure but a triumph of sheer spectacle.
