Dinesh Kamath's article on Hollywood movie 'Step Up Revolution' that was published in Newsband

Step Up Revolution (also known as Step Up 4: Miami Heat, and previously titled Step Up 4Ever) is an American 3D dance film produced by Step Up 3D director Jon M. Chu and directed by Scott Speer. The fourth installment in the Step Up film series stars Kathryn McCormick from the sixth season of So You Think You Can Dance and features choreography by Jamal Sims, Christopher Scott, Chuck Maldonado and Travis Wall. The production design was created by Carlos A. Menendez. Unlike the first three films produced by Touchstone Pictures and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, this film is the first to be produced and distributed by Summit Entertainment   without Touchstone's involvement.

The film has an interesting plot. Emily Anderson, the daughter of a wealthy businessman, arrives in Miami with aspirations of becoming a professional dancer, but soon falls in love with Sean, a young man who leads a dance crew in elaborate, cutting-edge flash mobs. The crew, called the MOB, strives to win a contest for a major sponsorship opportunity, but soon Emily's father threatens to destroy the MOB's historic neighborhood and build a large hotel, and in the process, 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.

I’ll make myself still clearer. Sean and Eddy are best friends who have formed a flash mob dance crew called The Mob. They live and work in Miami for a large hotel, but their main passion is their art. Their talented crews are trying to get themselves noticed and they do so with impressive effects. They're trying to win a $100,000 prize through YouTube by getting over 10 million hits on their channel.

Emily Anderson is a talented young dancer who's trying to go professional against her father's wishes. Her father just happens to be the developer of the hotel that Sean and Eddy work for. One day, Sean and Emily cross paths and of course, they’re immediately attracted to each other. Sean invites Emily into his world which is a low rent area of Miami, but once she's there, Emily sees the magic of the area that Sean's been living in. Emily's trying to be accepted into a prestigious dance academy and while she's told she's technically proficient, she's also told that she needs something a little more. Sean invites Emily to see The Mob in action and once she does, she wants to join.

Then bad news hits; Emily's father is making a bid to take over the area where Sean and his friends live and literally wipe it out for further development. Now, Emily wants to help Sean and The Mob save their homes by taking their art from purely exhibition to protest art.

That's the premise to Step Up Revolution the latest film in the popular Step Up series.

The film has Kathryn McCormick as Emily Anderson, a gifted dancer and the protagonist; Ryan Guzman as Sean, Emily's love interest and the leader of the MOB; Adam Sevani as Robert "Moose" Alexander III. He makes a cameo in the film; Misha Gabriel as Eddie, Sean's best friend who co-leads the MOB with Sean. He and Sean work as waiters at Dimont Hotel during the day; Peter Gallagher as Bill Anderson, a real-estate tycoon and the main antagonist. He is also Emily's father as well as Sean and Eddie's boss; Stephen "tWitch" Boss as Jason, a member of the MOB; Chadd "Madd Chadd" Smith as Vladd; Tommy Dewey as Tripp, Bill's protégé; Cleopatra Coleman as Penelope; Megan Boone as Claire, Sean's sister who is a single mother with a young daughter; Sean Rahill as Iris; Mari Koda as Kido. She makes a cameo; Phillip "Pacman" Chbeeb; Justin "Jet Li" Valles; Celestina Aladekoba; Nolan Padilla; Babbal Kumar as Dark Dancer and Brendan Morris as Neighborhood Kid/Dancer.

Step Up Revolution has received mixed to negative reviews from critics with the consensus stating: "Step Up Revolution treads familiar territory by surrounding its lively and kinetic dance sequences with a predictably generic story".

Step Up Revolution really excels is in its extremely high-charged and downright thrilling dance numbers- right from the opening, you're going to see some pretty amazing stuff.

Ryan Guzman plays Sean and Kathryn McCormick plays Emily. Guzman is, for this type of movie, quite impressive and certainly has a high likability factor. McCormick lacks a little in line delivery and emotion, but more than makes up for it in sheer physical presence and her skill. When she's in a scene, you're just drawn to her, even when she's not dancing. Misha Gabriel plays Eddy, and he brings a little bit of a darker side to the film, though he and Guzman do have an obvious chemistry together.

Step Up Revolution really is a lot of fun, and just goes right into overdrive whenever it shifts into any of its impressive dance numbers. Its story and characters are formulaic, but for this sort of film, I just don't think it's a bad thing at all; it makes it feel comfortable and just let's you really bask in the film's set pieces. The 3D here is absolutely amazing. In 3D, it's thrilling and compelling.

Once upon a time, dance crews battled each other for street supremacy. B-boys and b-girls went to war armed with pops and locks, with only that dimpled guy from Saved by the Bell to break up the, uh, breakdancing. But this is 2012. And in 2012, dance crews fight the system. Step Up Revolution, a dance film for the 99 per cent, is the fourth instalment in the film franchise that keeps alumni from the television show So You Think You Can Dance gainfully employed.

The movie has some interesting scenes. The heroine’s real estate magnate father, Mr. Anderson (played by the film's most "famous" cast member, Center Stage's Peter Gallagher), tells her: "Either you're a professional dancer by the end of the summer or you come work with me." Another best scene is at a beach club in her father's hotel, Emily meets Sean (model/MMA fighter Ryan Guzman), and shows him some moves that appear to have been inspired by another kind of club. You’ll love to watch the scenes where Emily eventually becomes the group's newest member despite the grumblings of Sean's best friend Eddy (Misha Gabriel). After romantic dances on the beach and midnight boat rides, Sean gives her the creative edge she needs for her audition into a more esteemed and legitimate dance company. The real conflict, though, arrives in the form of Mr. Anderson's plan to build a shiny new development, leaving everyone in the area homeless, jobless or both. With little time (or leggings) to spare, Emily suggests they fight The Man - in this case, her dad - with performance art. To add to the contrived drama, no one but Sean and Emily knows that she's an Anderson herself, making the pair's romance a little like Romeo and Juliet, but with a lot more dancing. Also be on the lookout for the Nobody puts Baby in a corner moment a la Dirty Dancing.

While McCormick and Guzman are sweet and generate believable chemistry, the real star is the choreography, including Travis Wall's emotional contemporary routines (he's another So You Think You Can Dance finalist) and Christopher Scott's detailed sequence involving dozens of dancers in fedoras and black suits, moving in unison while the sky above rains dollar bills.

Thus Step Up Revolution is an interesting film to watch. Do watch it when it gets released on 3 August 2012.