Step Up Revolution - D

Rated PG-13, 97 minutes

Latest "Step Up" film has great moves, little else

Ryan Guzman and Kathryn McCormick

"Step Up Revolution" is the fourth "Step Up" film that originated in 2006 and launched the career of now superstar Channing Tatum. Like that film and its other sequels, the best part about the film is the dancing, with little else to offer in terms of acting, story or characters, though with these films, the dancing is exactly the point. "Step Up Revolution" is a glossy, extended music video with some great dance sequences, but as a movie, it's on the lousy side. Emily (Kathryn McCormick) arrives in Miami with aspirations of becoming a professional dancer and soon falls in love with Sean (Ryan Guzman), a young man who leads a dance crew in elaborate, cutting-edge flash mobs, called "The Mob." When a wealthy business man threatens to develop The Mob's historic neighborhood and displace thousands of people, Emily must band together with Sean and The Mob to turn their performance art into protest art, and risk losing their dreams to fight for a greater cause. "Step Up Revolution" is an enjoyable, entertaining film, if you enjoy dance films with a terrible script and third-rate acting. This is the end result of what you get when you build a story around the dancing, instead of the other way around (shame on Adam Shankman, who helped write the script), but truthfully it should come as no surprise. The engaging Adam Sevani, a dancer who has been in several of the films and has been one of the bright spots of the series as the character "Moose" appears here again, though all too briefly. Most of the cast is unknown but you watch closely enough, you'll see a semi-respected actor in Peter Gallagher earning a paycheck but little else as one of the leads rich fathers. "Step Up Revolution" predictably mines every movie cliche and then some, but then again this is a film about the dancing. If you enjoyed the other films you'll likely enjoy this one too, though you're likely to get more out of the TV show "So You Think You Can Dance" than this (McCormick is a finalist from a previous season). Lightweight, forgettable summer drivel.