Step Up 4: Miami Heat Review

Step Up 4: Miami Heat
Sean (Guzman) is leader of The Mob, a guerrilla dance group who stage spectacular public flash mobs in the hope of winning a You Tube viral competition and launching careers for themselves. Emily (McCormick) is the rich girl who’s trying to land a modern

by Helen O'Hara |
Published on
Release Date:

10 Aug 2012

Running Time:

99 minutes

Certificate:

PG

Original Title:

Step Up 4: Miami Heat

Welcome to the glossy, sexy, dance-oriented tribute that the Occupy movement never asked for and doesn’t remotely deserve. Following the by-now well-established formula of the franchise, a rich kid (McCormick) finds her true dance mojo by working with a handsome poor kid (Guzman) and friends.

The twist is that this time they’re using spectacularly choreographed flash mobs as a form of protest to prevent a developer from destroying a colourful neighbourhood in old Miami. It’s certainly pushing for contemporary relevance, but it’s undone by a typically dumb script and complete predictability.

Still, if even the Step Up films are telling us “Enough with performance art; it’s time for protest art”, Occupy’s spirit might be filtering into the collective consciousness after all. Which is some comfort for this indignity.

The moves are slick as ever and fans will still flock to see the stunts, but the protest veneer doesn’t stop it feeling as dumb as a brick.
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