The Step Up franchise has become so much more than anyone could have expected. It started as a candy-coated, teen film about dance school kids, starring a very young punk kid by the name of Channing Tatum. Ha Ha. Now, five movies later, the dancing is the main character and the sequels are a given…

Story: Who cares! This is about the dancing. There’s always a love story in there somewhere, but, it ends up being so very irrelevant. It actually ends up being corny now. But the dancing and the choreography – nothing corny about that.

AND, the writers have been able to continue advancing the story based on the truth of a dancer’s life. The auditions, the competition, the injuries, the struggle. It’s all very believable and entertaining.

Performances: This is usually the place where I talk about award-worthy people and roles. This movie is not about that at all. No one’s looking for the Oscar performance here – just who’s got the hottest moves. Ryan Guzman, Misha Gabriel, Paul Sevani, Twitch. They’ve established themselves as the Step Up regulars. The movies will continue as long as their bodies can hold up.

A special mention to Ryan Guzman for being the first central character in more than one consecutive Step Up. And to think, he had no dance experience before starring in Step Up Revolution. But, he’s perfect to keep the story going.

Visual: Go big or go home. The dance scenes are amazing. The choreographers never fail to create a new look and new moves to keep the performances fresh. The themes of the battles really require creativity and the filmmakers bring wardrobe and costumes to match. The whole thing is eye-candy…

Rating: A. I’m hooked and they keep getting better and better. And without Channing Tatum. LOL. I really can’t believe this is five films later. I remember seeing the first one thinking it was a fun little movie that meant nothing. Then the second one came along and bombed, so, what more could come of it.

But Step Up 3 changed the entire model. It came along and created a whole new vibe. It set the path for the franchise and now it’s pretty much unstoppable. I couldn’t wait until this one got into theaters and can’t wait for the next one.

Go see it. And if you haven’t seen 3 and Revolution, get them on DVD. Thereafter, if you become a Step Up groupie, the first one will give you perspective and the second one will serve only to confirm the value of the subsequent movies… it otherwise adds nothing. Dance on…