| Step Up Revolution | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Scott Speer |
| Produced by |
|
| Written by | Amanda Brody |
| Based on | Characters by Duane Adler |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Aaron Zigman |
| Cinematography | Karsten Gopinath |
| Edited by | |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Lionsgate |
Release date | |
Running time | 99 minutes[1] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $33 million[2] |
| Box office | $140.5 million[2] |
Step Up Revolution (also known as Step Up 4: Miami Heat, and previously titled Step Up 4Ever) is a 2012 American 3Ddance film and the fourth installment in the Step Up film series. It was released on July 27, 2012. The film was directed by Scott Speer and stars Ryan Guzman and Kathryn McCormick, the latter from the sixth season of So You Think You Can Dance.[3] The film features choreography by Jamal Sims, Christopher Scott, Chuck Maldonado[4] and Travis Wall.[5] 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 was produced by Summit Entertainment and Offspring Entertainment without Disney's involvement and distributed by Lionsgate. This is also the first Summit Entertainment film after being acquired by Lionsgate in January 2012.
The film starts on Ocean Drive in Miami, Florida. A flash mob, later identified as 'The Mob', shuts down Ocean Drive briefly by cutting off the streets with retro convertibles and dancing on cars to music blasted by DJ Penelope (Cleopatra Coleman). A few hours later, Sean Asa (Ryan Guzman), Eddy (Misha Gabriel), and Jason Hardlerson (Stephen 'tWitch' Boss), the leaders of The Mob, watch their latest flashmob air on the television news in a restaurant kitchen of the Dimont Hotel where they work as waiters. A few complain about their public disturbance, while others praise it. After they get off work, they sneak into the hotel's beach club, claiming to be guests, not employees.
Meanwhile, across the club at the bar, Emily Anderson (Kathryn McCormick) tries to get the bartender's attention, but ends up preparing her own beer. Sean, who is immediately smitten by her, asks for a beer. She tells him it's on the house, then heads down to the beach to dance, resulting in a dance battle between the two, but ending with Emily suddenly running off when she sees one of her dad's business partners, Trip.
The next day, Emily and her father William 'Bill' Anderson (Peter Gallagher) argue over breakfast at the Dimont Hotel. Sean, their waiter, immediately recognizes her, but Emily spills her orange juice. Sean helps clean it up then leaves to fetch her another juice. While he's gone, Emily continues to argue with her father before storming off. Sean later finds her in the hotel's ballroom, where Emily begins a fast contemporary dance, oblivious to Sean's presence. After Emily notices Sean and warms up to him, she explains to him that she's trying to nail an audition for the prestigious Winwood Dance Academy Company. Sean advises her to incorporate faster, more interesting moves, but Emily declines, saying that there are rules. Sean, in turn, tells her to break the rules, giving her an address and telling her to come there. Emily does and finds herself at the Miami Museum of Fine Arts, where the paintings and statues come to life, which is the work of The Mob. By telling her to attend, Sean basically reveals to her his participation in The Mob.
The next day, Emily persuades Sean to let her take part in their next flashmob, which is scheduled to hit a restaurant the following week. Eddy immediately dislikes Emily, giving her the lead to test her. Sean then introduces her to 'the gang' where she meets Eddy (The Hacker), Penelope (The DJ), Jason Hardlerson (The FX), and Mercury (The Artist), who never talks. He also explains that they are trying to win a contest through YouTube by getting 10 million hits on the site. The flashmob goes well and Eddy admits that Emily did great. They then celebrate at Ricky's, where Sean and Emily salsa together, much to everyone's delight. Sean and Emily then sneak onto a boat and sail down the river. There, they bond over their mothers both not being a part of their lives, and they kiss and sleep on the boat until morning. When they hurry back to Ricky's, which turns out to be owned by Sean's uncle Ricky, Ricky reveals to them that Emily's dad, a building tycoon, is planning to develop the strip, destroying Ricky's bar, Sean's home, Sean's sister's home and workplace, and many other things. Enraged, Emily storms off to talk to her dad, with Sean following behind her. Emily wants to tell The Mob who her dad is, but is reluctantly convinced by Sean not to. She instead finds out from her dad that there will be a meeting to determine whether the project to develop the strip goes through or not. She convinces the rest of The Mob to protest the plans. Their dance is a huge hit, gaining the group over a million more views.
Eddy finds out that Emily is William's daughter through watching a tape of Sean and Emily rehearsing where she reveals the truth, without knowing that they are being recorded. Enraged, he reveals Emily's complicity with The Mob to William through a protest dance flashmob. This ruins the relationships for Emily with Sean (romantically), Eddy (friendly), William (trustfully), and the rest of the Mob. Emily leaves embarrassed, and Sean, brokenhearted, is arrested for saving Eddy after their fight. Emily had rehearsed her Winwood audition piece as a duet with Sean, but now that she and Sean are estranged, she no longer has him as a dance partner. Instead, she adapts the piece, dancing it as a solo performance. The result falls flat and she fails her audition for the troupe. Sean finally meets Emily, still hurting from the humiliation, and tells him she is going back to work for her dad, per a promise she made with her dad that if she did not become a professional dancer by the end of the summer that she would work with him back in Cleveland.
After Sean and Eddy were sent to jail for being caught in the flashmob, Ricky bails them out, with Sean quitting The Mob plus ending his friendship with Eddy, after what he did to split him and Emily apart. Eventually, with Eddy feeling guilty for making the rash decision for revenge, makes up with Sean for the errors they both caused. Then The Mob plan one last protest to speak for the people who don't have a voice. They then flashmob the development’s public announcement, with the help of members of The House of Pirates, including Moose (Adam Sevani), Vladd and Jenny Kido. Sean and Emily then perform the original audition piece. Seeing his daughter so happy, William decides to build up the community rather than tear it down, and he and Emily reconcile. Sean and Emily kiss passionately and make up, and Sean and Eddy make a deal with the owner of the marketing firm that represents Nike for the Mob to dance in their commercials.
Step Up Revolution was filmed in 'native' / 'true 3D' without post production conversion using Red Epic cameras, Zeiss Ultra Prime and Angenieux Optimo DP Lenses and 3ality Technica TS-5 camera rigs and Stereo Image Processor (SIP) technology systems.[6]
Step Up Revolution received a 42% approval rating on the review aggregrator Rotten Tomatoes based on 90 reviews. The consensus stating: 'Step Up Revolution treads familiar territory by surrounding its lively and kinetic dance sequences with a predictably generic story.' It holds a rating of 43/100 on metacritic signifying mixed or average reviews.[7] In its opening weekend, the film grossed $11,731,708 and was placed at No. 4 on the Box Office. The film was released in 2,567 theaters. As of November 19, 2012 the film has grossed $35,074,677 in the United States and $105,396,069 in other territories, for a total of $140,470,746 worldwide.[2] As of November 19, 2012, it lies third in terms of worldwide box-office receipts compared to other films in the Step Up series.