A tight-knit group of New York City street dancers, including Luke and Natalie, team up with NYU freshman Moose, and find themselves pitted against the world's best hip hop dancers in a high-stakes showdown that will change their lives forever.
Though director Jon Chu brings admirable energy and imagination to Step Up 3D's dance extravaganzas, he can't animate shockingly wooden performances or cure stumble-footed dialogue.
– Kathleen Murphy,
MSN Movies,
6 Aug 2010
fresh:
The dance scenes are inventive and pop out in all kinds of strange places.
– Jennie Punter,
Globe and Mail,
6 Aug 2010
rotten:
Functions less as a story than as a catalog of references meant to interest a young audience: mixed martial arts, parkour, X-games, Red Hook, Chinatown, D.I.Y. filmmaking.
– Mike Hale,
New York Times,
6 Aug 2010
fresh:
I think it actually honors the art form of dance, but not in a solemn, highbrow way.
– A.O. Scott,
At the Movies,
10 Aug 2010
rotten:
Who needs competent acting and writing when there are so many shiny, pretty things flying right at you?