Why So Blu?

Step Up All In (Blu-ray Review)

Based on its theatrical performance, Step Up All In may be a franchise finale, at least as far as being a wide release in theaters goes, but without any irony, I would pronounce this film as one of the better ones of the summer.  It is times like these where explaining the scoring feels necessary.  Does ‘4 stars’ mean that Step Up is a great movie or better than other films I have given lower ratings to, not necessarily, but it does not really matter either.  From what I saw, Step Up is a franchise that only has so many kinds of stories it can tell and only so much potential to capitalize on.  Obviously those who have little care for seeing elaborate dance routines will not get much out of a film like this, but in terms of what All In is going for, it does it very well.

Film:

Step Up 3D was previously the best entry in the series, as it delivered exactly what a viewer would want in this kind of movie: lots of dancing that happened to also be very well shot and edited, mixed with the use of 3D to change up the series a bit (it was filmed in 3D).  No, the acting and story elements are nothing to write home about, but even those aspects were handled with a level of respect that kept the film light and enjoyable (mainly due to Adam Sevani’s Moose character).  Step Up: Revolution, on the other hand, was a big disappointment, given how surprised I was by the quality of ‘3D‘.  Gone was director Jon M. Chu and with him, he apparently took the directorial flare that made ‘3D‘ and Step Up 2: The Streets the most enjoyable entries.  Now we have Step Up All In, which features a new director, Trish Sie, and has ended up becoming perhaps the best Step Up film possible.

I spent a lot of time in the past comparing this series to the Fast & Furious films.  The first film is pretty standard and set the mold, the second has the ridiculous title, the third is a new direction, but actually superior in its own ways, while the fourth offered little, beyond some neat moments.  I could apply that sentence to either series, but it definitely came together when it was decided All In would reunite the casts from all the previous films, save for Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan Tatum from the first film.  This and the quality of the film made Step Up All In the Fast Five of the series.  Not only does All In respects the series continuity, it also does a fine job of making you forgive the acting talents of some of the members in the previous films, as everyone is pretty committed this time around.  Now, that does not mean the acting taking place is completely worthwhile, but the familiar faces combined with the ‘all in’ attitude that led to the construction of All In certainly makes it very watchable.  Really though, it is all about the dancing.

While editing was the biggest enemy of Step Up Revolution, All In features a number of tremendous dance sequences, including a creative music video sequence that involves a power plant and a finale that is full of all out insanity.  The finales of these films always tend to be pretty big, but after the rain in The Streets and the laser show in 3D, it really came down to All In‘s climax to let me know if this film could stand even higher.  It did.  This time we get sand and fire, among other things, which really delivered some dynamic visuals amidst the dance action.

Dancing is not something I know a ton about.  Sure I like to move around on the dance floor, given the opportunity, but compared to the performers in these films, I am less than a lightweight.  With that said, there is true talent on display in all of these films, from a physical standpoint, and having the right director in place certainly was a great way to allow us to see it.  That is really what matters in these movies.  While the Fast & Furious films are more or less popular because of the cast (and their chemistry) first, action second, Step Up succeeds based on how creatively put together the big dance numbers are.  It is nice to see familiar faces like Adam Sevani’s Moose show up, but seeing him perform routines with Briana Evigan and Ryan Guzman’s characters is where the true fun comes in and Step Up All In delivers on that in the best of ways.

And really, it is easy to embrace how silly this film is at the same time.  Yes, the dancing is well shot and the story is pretty terrible (it surrounds a underdog dance crew battling for work in a Las Vegas-based reality show), but there is a lot of ridiculous fun to have with how ‘bad’ some of the non-dancing aspects are.  So much so that it makes the movie far more entertaining than just a non-showy dance film.  All In is full of color and life, which may not lend itself to the best of stories or characters, but is enough make the film work for what it is.  We have seen a lot of ambitious films this past summer and while many of them have been good and many have been less than that, Step Up All In feels like one of the few that has completely accomplished all that it was going for.  It is this reason that makes the film worth the high score that I gave it, but put that silly number aside and embrace the silly dance numbers that make this film so entertaining.  If this is the last time we see a theatrical release of a Step Up film, at least they managed to go all in and deliver.

[Note: To hear more about this film, myself, fellow Why So Blu? writer Brandon Peters, Forbes’ Scott Mendelson, and author Randy Shaffer all discuss the film on an episode of my podcast HERE.]

Video:

Encoding: MPEG-4 AVC

Resolution: 1080p

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1

Clarity/Detail: Step Up has always been a series that pops.  With the exception of the mood of certain dance numbers for dramatic effect, these films are always bright and alive and Step Up All In’s Blu-ray is crisp and clear.  We can see all the details of the costumes and set design, however minimal, and it is a great disc for those reasons.

Depth: Presented in converted 3D theatrically, while this Blu-ray is only available in 2D, it does look pretty great, given the use of locations to create a fine level of separation to indicate the depth in a very successful manner.

Black Levels: Black levels are inky and well represented.

Color Reproduction: As I have said, this film pops and the colors are rich and boldly displayed here.  Lots of bright colors seen throughout and the various costumes all provide plenty to enjoy on this front.

Flesh Tones: Flesh tones are consistent.  The facial textures and detail in the characters is very strong, even given how noticeably good-looking everyone is in this film

Noise/Artifacts: Nothing.

 

Audio:

Audio Format(s): English Dolby TrueHD Atmos Mix, Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital Audio

Subtitles: English, English SDH, Spanish

Dynamics: Step Up All In truly does go all in with this Atmos mix. The film has plenty of variation in music track choices, accompanied by sound effects, and other audio aspects.  The Blu-ray basically creates a dance party in your home.

Low Frequency Extension: The thumping soundtrack does a fine job of working out your LFE channel. The subwoofer gets to go All In as well.

Surround Sound Presentation: This flick sweeps around your entire viewing area.  This film does a fantastic job of providing a very active sound experience, with the channels all being properly represented for a fine audio experience to go…all in with.

Dialogue Reproduction: Clear and center focused.

 

Extras:

We get a nice collection of extras here.  It would have been nice to see more in regards to the creation of these dance sequences, but at least we get a commentary and a reflection on the series in various forms.

Features Include:

• “All in with the Crew” Featurette (HD, 9:49) – A decent look at the returning cast members and the idea of putting a film like this together, given the combination of cast members from the previous films. Features interviews with the cast and crew.
• “Dance Breakdown: Final Stage” Featurette (HD, 5:36) – A brief look at the making of the final dance battle in the film.
• Clap, Stomp, Slide: The Sounds of Battle (HD, 4:17) – This was neat, as it shows one of the key dance scenes in the film, minus any other sound, except the sound effects from the adjectives used to describe this feature.
• Audio Commentary with Director Trish Sie and Actress Briana Evigan – Fun enough, with a mix of conversation both light and technical.
• Ryan’s Favorite Dance Scenes with Optional Commentary (HD, 19:14) – Basically a montage of the best dance sequence footage from the film and you can listen to Ryan Guzman talk about it, if so desired.
• The Vortex Dance Index (HD, 34:21) – All the dance scenes from the film in one feature.
• Deleted Scenes (HD, 9:22) – Extended and deleted scenes from the film, including more dancing, of course.
• Trailers
• UltraViolet Copy of the Film

Summary:

Not so much a surprise, but it was a relief to be so caught up into the spirit of this movie.  Yes it is goofy and there is little to take away, beyond cool dance sequences, but the film does what it does very well, which is worth noting, as I found it to be quite entertaining for that reason.  The Blu-ray features a nice allotment of special features, as well as a superb technical presentation.  Fans of the series should definitely be excited and those looking for a fun dance movie, this flick does the job.

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