Forget the story, it’s one we’ve seen hundreds of times before – working class kids down on their luck with only their dancing skills to keep them out of borstal. The inevitable happens. The dance crew lose their top choreographer and a place to practice just before the finals of the UK dance championships.
Will their gritty determination see them through? Do fairy godmothers really exist. Of course they do, dude.
Delivering sandwiches to the local snobby ballet school, Carly (Nichola Burley) strikes up a friendship with the school’s director, Helena, played by Charlotte Rampling. A light goes on above Helena’s head as she decides that what her stiff, spoilt tutu-fodder needs is a bit of action from the ‘hood and so she brings the urchins together with the dance aristocracy for the predictable storyline.
Can ballet and streetdance mix? Will personal animosity between the groups melt away and turn into TLC? Will the dance crew win the UK Dance Championship, beating the fabulous but ruthless Surge?
Heck, you the answer already. But despite the cheesiness of the tired old storyline, Streetdance has more energy than a Lucozade factory. It features top crew Diversity and Britain’s Got Talent heroes Flawless and George Samson making excellent feature film debuts.
The dance routines are stunning as you would expect and the soundtrack featuring Cheryl Cole, Pixie Lott, N-Dubz and Chipmunk was made up for the weakness of the plot with the Moviehouse sound system really coming into its own. Oh, and the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy never sounded so good!
Streetdance is in 3D and it worked gloriously well both in the indoor dance scenes, cranking up the energy levels, and the outdoor shots of London. This is the first European film made in 3D.
So if you’re not too fussed about plot, but want a high-energy feelgood movie with driving, dynamic music and to-die-for dancing, Streetdance is one for you. You’ll be body-popping the whole way home!