Genre: Drama
Director: Max Giwa, Dania Pasquini
Cast: Charlotte Rampling, Nicola Burley, Rachel McDowall, Richard Winsor
RunTime: 1 hr 38 mins
Released By: GV & MVP
Rating: PG
Official Website: www.streetdancethemovie.co.uk

Opening Day: 29 July 2010

Synopsis:

In order to win the Street Dance Championships, a dance crew is forced to work with ballet dancers from the Royal Dance School in exchange for rehearsal space.

Movie Review:

There must be a reason why this movie had a #1 opening weekend in the U.K. box office sales.

To begin, most people’s impression of “Street Dance” is almost associated with U.S.A, or American acts since it is popularised there. However, this movie attempted and brought to our attention the development of street dance in the U.K., bringing together U.K.’s famous acts all into one movie to showcase their prominence and beauty.

Looking at the credited cast list, we observe many new and unfamiliar names. Even though most of them are really relatively new and young, they add youthfulness and energy to the movie. Also, there are plenty of surprises in the rest of the acts. They have invited dance crews such as Diversity (winning act of 2009 Britain’s Got Talent; the dance crew that defeated popular act Susan Boyle) and Flawless. There is also special appearance made by Akai Osei, the winner of U.K.’s Got to Dance. Another noteworthy mention is George Sampson, who made his debut appearance on the big screen with this movie. He is the winner of 2008’s Britain Got Talent, who has also received much praise and is thought to be one of the best street dancers in U.K. So dance wise, we can expect something spectacular. The dance routines are not only complimentary, there is also careful utilization of it such that viewers will not just be overwhelmed by the different dance styles, but to also understand and identify them. It was somewhat a crash course for the different styles of dance.

Even though this movie is titled “Street Dance”, the combination of classical ballet and street dance is actually quite refreshing and novel. It combines with the conflicts in the plot to show the conflicting interests of people who advocate different genres of dance. That being said, the plot is actually very simple, to the extent that it may seem unsophisticated. The team did try to avoid the classic clichés, but they still prove to be the best material to work with. So when there is conflict, you can already predict that there will be a good resolution and ending to it. However since this movie is directed by first-timers Max Giwa and Dania Pasquini, they do deserve some credit in weaving together a movie that is born from a very simple idea: just do what you do best and follow your heart.

In the technical aspect, this movie is shot in Paradise FX’s Tri Delta camera systems, which means that it is not just a 2D movie that is converted to the 3D format. This ensures viewers’ pleasure in viewing this movie in 3D. In fact, it was very flattering for the dances because you would really felt you were there watching the dances live.

Also lack of careful composition is the pace of the movie and the soundtracks. The introduction of the conflicts at the beginning of the movie was rather clumsy and hasty because of the lack of context. This may potentially cause viewers to be lost. However it was easy to follow the remaining of the plot. The songs that were chosen and used did not appear to be of careful composition. Yes, they are nice and catchy songs, but there’s nothing more to that. Subsequently, the songs were used to combine with the development of the story but it was not brilliant and is a little lengthy and annoying too.

So probably the factors that contributed to the #1 in the U.K. box office takings of this movie are due to the 3D effects, the famous U.K. dance acts and the simple message behind the whole plot. Beyond that, there’s nothing much to look forward to.

Movie Rating:

(Experience it in 3D, or not at all)

Review by Tho Shu Ling