Step Up Revolution (2012)

(On Cable TV, May 2020) I’ve bounced all around the five-film Step Up series, from seeing the third in theatres to going home to watch the first and then the fifth and now the fourth. (Don’t worry—I’ll see the second soon.) The decision to locate Step Up Revolution in sunny colourful Miami is a good one, although the dubstep and flash-mob fascination date this film more solidly in 2012 than anything else I would have imagined. The plot itself, what with its promoter-destroying-neighbourhood hook, is rather jejune and more fitting to a kid’s movie starring a dog, but the point of the movie is the dance sequences, and there are quite a few good ones here. Never mind that our ragtag dance troupe requires props and costumes that would bankrupt any professional dance group. There are a few callbacks to the previous entries of the series (Moose shows up!), but Step Up Revolution generally stands alone. The calling card of the series is that it’s about as close as we’ll get to modern MGM musicals, and in that regard this fourth entry delivers the goods in energetic fashion: It’s best to look at it as a collection of dance numbers than a cohesive narrative. From that angle, the film’s highlights include a massive number on Ocean Drive, a cute bit at the Miami Museum of Fine Arts that pays homage to Miami’s art scene, a hilariously on-the-nose bit featuring a “businessman” flash mob and a finale set against a colourful stage made of shipping containers. The plot makes no sense, but the numbers are high-energy, Cleopatra Coleman has a supporting role, and the anti-capitalist message is good for the kids. All told, I can’t find any problem with Step Up Revolution. Why isn’t there a box-set of this series available for purchase?