August 12th, 2014 
James Shotwell 
Film: Step Up: All In
Starring: Ryan Guzman, Briana Evigan
Directed by: Trish Sie
There is a moment roughly twenty minutes into Step Up: All In when a character known as Moose asks, “Does everything have to end in a giant dance battle?” This is the first moment of irony and self-awareness that the franchise has shown in its entire existence, and it stands as the first of many indications that growth is possible for any series – even those about dance crews.
Step Up: All In is being marketed as a film that features everyone’s favorite characters from the previous entries in the franchise. This does not include Channing Tatum, of course, but instead features people from Step Up 2 The Streets, Step Up 3D, and 2012’s Step Up: Revolution. I will admit that prior to entering a 2:40 PM matinee of All In I was only familiar with one of the above films (Revolution), but I figured it was more than enough to help me understand the paper-thin plot that awaited me. I won’t keep you in suspense, it was sufficient.
Ryan Guzman, star of Revolution, leads All In from start to finish. The film opens with he and several additional members from The Mob failing to make it big in Los Angeles. The crew wants to move home, but Sean (Guzman) refuses to give up his dream. About five minutes after he and the gang part ways, Sean learns of an epic dance competition taking place in Las Vegas that awards the winning crew a three-year contract to perform in the city of sin. It’s everything Sean has wanted (and needed), but there’s one major problem: he has no crew.
Fear not! After a brainstorming session that appears to have required a simple text, Sean reunites with Moose (Adam Sevani) and the pair soon begin building a new crew. To do this, they call every dancer they’ve met that impressed them, which just so happens to be a cast of people who appeared in the previous films, including the lovely Andie (Briana Evigan). She and Sean hit it off right away, but of course neither will admit it. Why should they? Dancing is so much more entertaining.
I could go on and on about the plot, but I think you can put it together from here. The gang goes to Vegas, enters the aforementioned competition, faces obstacles, and even fight a little, but eventually everyone grows closer and learns a few lessons about growing up along the way. There’s even a blossoming romance. Blah blah blah. Let’s be real: no one enters Step Up movies hoping for an Oscar-worthy script. When you sit down for these films you’re expecting spectacle in the form of ridiculously over-the-top choreography, preferably performed by eclectic groups of young people that just so happen to represent every ethnicity you can fit in a single frame. With that in mind, Step Up: All In succeeds in a big way. The film, much like this entire franchise, understands its limitations, and that is why it works so well. The characters never face problems that cannot be solved with dancing, and no matter what else happens in the sequences without music it all eventually comes back to dancing. Not romance, not family, not even friends. Dancing. The tagline might as well be ‘Don’t bore us, get to the chorus (line).’
Every film in the Step Up series has tried to up the ante as far as the dance sequences are concerned, and All In is no different. There is no way the film could compete with the public spectacles in Revolution, so this time the crews participating in the competition are encouraged to incorporate theatrics into their work. This results in performances featuring everything from a laboratory you’d expect to find Frankenstein in, to chandelier-swinging street performers and girls spinning makeshift torches. There’s also a baffling sequence involving a disappearing floor and rainfall made out of sand, but I’ll save the full description of that sequence for those who choose to see the film in full.
When All In moves away from the world of dancing things begin to fall apart at an alarming rate. The acting is mediocre at best across the board, and the story leaves a lot to be desired. I know some people say you can never expect too much from dance films, but Dirty Dancing and even the original Step Up argue otherwise. This film puts the performances above everything else, and as a result everything else suffers. That will bother those who did not come hoping for wall-to-wall dancing, but everyone else may never notice.
All In is the debut feature for director Trish Sie, though she is no stranger to the world of music. She is probably best known for OK Go’s “Here It Goes Again” video, but surprisingly it’s her lack of an ability to hold on an image that holds Step Up back. The complexity of certain actions made by crews is muddied by quick cuts that offer little in terms of more enhanced perspectives on the action. When things do slow down, like during a romantic dance shared by the leads on an out of service tilt-a-whirl, the film begins far more beautiful than it appears at first glance. I only wish every scene worked that well.
If you’re sitting around asking yourself whether or not Step Up: All In offers something you might find entertaining, the answer is probably yes. If you’ve never been a fan of dance-centric films and don’t understand how anyone could write a film that’s nearly two hours long about dance crews, this movie will probably make you really, really sad about what passes for film in 2014. Decide which side of the fence you belong in and run with it. There is a lot to enjoy here if it’s the kind of thing that appeals to you, but if you’re seeking a powerful feature about the world where dance, romance, and family collide, this is no place for you.
GRADE: C
Review written by: James Shotwell Follow @utgjames
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