Talent triumphs over adversity

“STEP UP: ALL IN.” Unexpected twist.

Movies about dancers have changed drastically through the years and decades. A long time ago, they were about ballet dancers (“The Red Shoes,” “An American in Paris”) and Broadway hoofers dazzlingly portrayed by Cyd Charisse, Russ Tamblyn, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, Gene Kelly, etc.

Next, “West Side Story” and “A Chorus Line” thrilled viewers. Then came “Dirty Dancing” and its more elemental and passionate groove, with “Fame”  and other big-screen hot-to-trot dance fests following. Later, the “West Side Story” syndrome even more edgily metamorphosed into “street dance” dramas, made more exciting by linking them to the racing car syndrome.

These days, however, the focus of dance films has shifted to the “dance crews” made popular by TV dance tilts. Take the updated syndrome’s latest big-screen showcase, “Step Up: All In,” which is about some competitive and hungry dance crews’ determined bid to top a big dance fest in Las Vegas that promises the winning group a three-year contract as a big casino show’s headliners.

What makes the competition exceptionally intense is the fact that the film’s main crew is made to compete against former friends and crew-mates. Also adding to the conflict is the fact that, unknown to the competitors, the tilt already has a winner, a well-connected crew that’s secretly favored by the stellar dance diva who’s on top of the competition!

Of course, when “our” dance crew learns about the inevitable conclusion, they feel like quitting instantly—but, they’ve grown enough as people in the course of the dance film’s drama that they decide to persevere—and are rewarded by an unexpected twist at film’s end, when sheer talent triumphs over hypocrisy, connections and just about everything else!