''Step Up 3D'' (also known simply as ''Step Up 3'') is a 2010 American 3D dance film directed by Jon M. Chu and written by Amy Andelson and Emily Meyer. It serves as a sequel to 2008's '' Step Up 2: The Streets'' and the third installment in the ''Step Up'' film series. The film sees the return of Adam G. Sevani and Alyson Stoner, who portrayed Moose from ''Step Up 2: The Streets'' and Camille Gage from '' Step Up'', respectively. It also stars Rick Malambri and Sharni Vinson. The film follows Moose and Camille Gage as they head to

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

, the former dancer of whom is majoring in

electrical engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems that use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

after promising his father that he would not dance anymore. However, he soon stumbles upon a dance battle, meeting Luke Katcher and his House of Pirates dance crew and later teaming up with them to compete in the World Jam dance contest against their rival, the House of Samurai dance crew. ''Step Up 3D'' premiered in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

at the El Capitan Theater on August 2, 2010, and was subsequently released in the United States on August 6, 2010, by

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures is an American film distributor within the Disney Entertainment division of the Walt Disney Company. It handles theatrical and occasional digital distribution, marketing, and promotion for films produced and ...

, through conventional 2D and 3D formats. It was the second movie to feature the Dolby Surround 7.1 audio format theatrically, preceded by ''

Toy Story 3 ''Toy Story 3'' is a 2010 American animated comedy-drama film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. The third installment in the Toy Story (franchise), ''Toy Story'' series, it was directed by Lee Unkrich, the editor ...

''. The film grossed $15.8 million in its opening weekend, the lowest opening of the first three films in the series, but went on to become the biggest box office of the series, grossing $159.2 million. It received mixed reviews from critics, with most praise towards its dance sequences and effective use of 3D, while criticism went towards the repetitive story and acting. A fourth entry in the series, '' Step Up Revolution'', was released on July 27, 2012.

Plot

Moose and Camille go to NYC to attend NYU. He is majoring in

after promising his father that he would not dance anymore. While touring the campus, Moose sees a pair of Limited Edition Gun Metal Nike Dunks worn by Luke Katcher, the leader of the House of Pirates dance crew. As Moose follows Luke he stumbles upon a dance battle, where he beats Kid Darkness from the dancing crew House of Samurai. Luke takes him back to his place, an old warehouse converted into a club. There he tries to convince Moose to join his dance crew, with whom he teams up. Luke believes that with the skills of Moose and the rest of his dance crew, they could win the grand prize in the World Jam Championships contest to help pay the mortgage, as the warehouse is in arrears so could be auctioned off. Luke meets Natalie at the club and notices her dancing abilities, so enlists her to become part of the crew, unaware of Natalie's motives. Moose has to choose between his studies and dance, between a test and a dance competition. He goes to test, but seeing the paper and receiving a message from Luke, he rushes to the competition just in time. Luke and Natalie become increasingly closer. He shows her his recordings and dance interviews. Natalie is hiding the fact that her brother is Julien, the leader of the House of Samurai, and lies about everything but the love connection between her and Luke. Natalie faces a hard decision between her love and family. She confronts Luke, asking what happened with him and Julien. He explains that Julien was a member of the House of Pirates, but has a gambling problem. He once wagered against the crew then threw the battle, so they kicked him out. After arguing with Julien, Natalie decides to leave Luke rather than betray him further. Julien invites Luke to her birthday party using her phone. Luke asks Moose to attend the party with him, but they are not permitted to enter as they have no invitation. They find a way to get in and Luke and Natalie dance a tango. Julien reveals her identity so Luke is upset with her. When Luke arrives back at the warehouse, he finds it is foreclosed. Angry at himself for not being a better leader, he exclaims that the House of Pirates is over, and the crew members go their separate ways. Moose and Camille are best friends, but Moose does not see that she is in love with him. The two fall out after Moose shows up late to a party; the final straw after being distant with her since arriving at university. Moose and Camille make up in the streets by dancing as

Fred Astaire Fred Astaire (born Frederick Austerlitz, May 10, 1899 – June 22, 1987) was an American dancer, actor, singer, musician, choreographer, and presenter, whose career in stage, film, and television spanned 76 years. He is widely regarded as the "g ...

and

Ginger Rogers Ginger Rogers (born Virginia Katherine McMath; July 16, 1911 – April 25, 1995) was an American actress, dancer and singer during the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of Hollywood. She won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her starri ...

to a remix of "

I Won't Dance "I Won't Dance" is a song with music by Jerome Kern that has become a jazz standard. The song has two different sets of lyrics: the first written by Oscar Hammerstein II and Otto Harbach in 1934, and second written by Dorothy Fields (though Jimm ...

". Camille insists Moose never give up dancing as he was born to do it. Moose helps out Luke by bringing the House of Pirates back together, and finding additional members for the crew including Camille and The MSA Crew from the previous film. They discover that several former Pirates are now performing with the House of Samurai. Former crewmate Carlos informs them that Julien has bought their warehouse, but says they can have it back if they throw the battle, but they refuse to take the offer. Natalie helps Luke and the Pirates win the World Jam with their practiced routine. She secretly helps him get into film school and invites him to come with her to

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, so he meets her at the train station. They kiss just as Moose kisses Camille. Before leaving, Luke gives Moose his pair of Limited Edition Gun Metal Nike Dunks.

Cast

* Rick Malambri as Luke Katcher, the leader of the House of Pirates. * Adam G. Sevani as Robert "Moose" Alexander III, a hip hop dancer who is studying electrical engineering at NYU. * Sharni Vinson as Natalie, a talented street dancer who is recruited to join the House of Pirates. * Alyson Stoner as Camille Gage, Moose's best friend and Tyler's foster sister who is a talented hip hop dancer. * Joe Slaughter as Julien, the leader of the House of Samurai and Natalie's brother. * Frank Moran as Moose's Dad *

Kathy Najimy Kathy Ann Najimy ( ; ; born February 6, 1957) is an American actress and activist. She was first nationally known for her feminist play ''The Kathy and Mo Show'', which she wrote and performed with Mo Gaffney. On film, she is best known for her ...

as Moose's Mom * Keith Stallworth as Jacob * Kendra Andrews as Anala *

Stephen "tWitch" Boss Stephen Laurel "tWitch" Boss (September 29, 1982December 13, 2022) was an American freestyle dance, freestyle hip hop dancer, choreographer, actor, television producer, and television personality. In 2008, he finished in second place on the Am ...

as Jason Hardlerson * Chadd "Madd Chadd" Smith as Vladd * Jonathan "Legacy" Perez as Legz * Martín Lombard as Martin Santiago * Facundo Lombard as Marcos Santiago * Oren "Flearock" Michaeli as Carlos, A person in the House of Pirates * Daniel "Cloud" Campos as Kid Darkness * Shirley Henriquez, as part of the pirates crew * Luis Alberto Rodríguez, as part of the Pirates crew * Carolina Ravassa as Kristen * Alberto Collado Aracena, as part of the pirates crew * Jose Hernandez * Glenn Michael A. Mataro, as part of the pirates crew * Tamara Levinson, as Bend ; The MSA Crew: * Christopher Scott as Hair * Harry Shum Jr. as Cable * Janelle Cambridge as Fly * LaJon Dantzler as Smiles * Luis Rosado as Monster * Mari Koda as Jenny Kido * Danielle Polanco as Missy ; The Lil Pirates: * Jalen Testermen * Angelo "Lil Demon" Baligad * Simrin C Player * Jose BoyBoi Tena

Soundtrack

''Step Up 3D'' is the

film soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured ...

album from the motion picture ''Step Up 3D''. The album was released on 27 July 2010. The singles from the album are: " Club Can't Handle Me" by

Flo Rida Tramar Lacel Dillard (born September 16, 1979), known professionally as Flo Rida ( ), is an American rapper and singer. His 2007 debut and breakout single "Low (Flo Rida song), Low" was number one for 10 weeks in the United States and broke the ...

featuring

David Guetta Pierre David Guetta (; born 7 November 1967) is a French DJ and record producer. He has sold over 10 million albums and 65 million singles globally, with more than 30 billion streams on Spotify. Guetta was voted the number one DJ in the DJ Mag ...

, " Already Taken" by

Trey Songz Tremaine Aldon Neverson (born November 28, 1984), known professionally as Trey Songz, is an American Contemporary R&B, R&B singer and songwriter. After being discovered by record producer Troy Taylor (record producer), Troy Taylor in 2003, Songz ...

, " My Own Step" by Roscoe Dash and

T-Pain Faheem Rashad Najm (born September 30, 1984), known professionally as T-Pain, is an American singer and rapper. He is known for popularizing creative use of Auto-Tune pitch correction, often used with extreme parameter settings to create electro ...

featuring Fabo and " Irresistible" by

Wisin & Yandel Wisin & Yandel were a Puerto Rican reggaeton duo consisting of Wisin and Yandel. They started their career in 1998 and stayed together until 2023, winning several awards including a Grammy Award in 2009. They became the first and the only regga ...

.
"Squeeze It (feat. Dada Life & Tiesto)" by DJ Frank E was used in the official advertisement of the film.

Home media

The film was released by Touchstone Home Entertainment on

Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...

3D and

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

in the United Kingdom on November 29, 2010, in the United States on December 21, 2010, and in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

on January 27, 2011.

Reception

Critical response

''Step Up 3D'' received mixed reviews from critics. Review aggregator

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

gave it an approval rating of 47% based on 123 reviews, with an average score of 5.10/10. The website's critical consensus said: "It may not contain believable acting or a memorable plot, but ''Step Up 3-D'' delivers solid choreography and stunning visuals". It holds a score of 45 out of 100 on

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

from 23 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by

CinemaScore CinemaScore is an American market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts from the data. Background Ed Mintz, who ...

gave the film a grade B+. Keith Uhlich of ''

Time Out New York ''Time Out'' is a global magazine published by Time Out Group. ''Time Out'' started as a London-only publication in 1968 and has expanded its editorial recommendations to 333 cities in 59 countries worldwide. In 2012, the London edition became ...

'' named ''Step Up 3D'' the third-best film of 2010, arguing that it " ne-uppedthe overpraised stereoscopic advancements of ''

Avatar Avatar (, ; ) is a concept within Hinduism that in Sanskrit literally means . It signifies the material appearance or incarnation of a powerful deity, or spirit on Earth. The relative verb to "alight, to make one's appearance" is sometimes u ...

''." In 2020, Uhlich named it the tenth-best film of the 2010s.

Box office

The film made $6,657,326 on its first night of release (August 6, 2010), landing second after the

buddy cop film Buddy cop is a film and television genre with plots involving two people of very different and conflicting personalities who are forced to work together to solve a crime and/or defeat criminals, sometimes learning from each other in the process. ...

The Other Guys ''The Other Guys'' is a 2010 American buddy cop action comedy film directed by Adam McKay, who co-wrote it with Chris Henchy. It stars Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg with Eva Mendes, Michael Keaton, Steve Coogan, Ray Stevenson, Samu ...

,'' which received $13,124,233. In the weekend box office the movie placed third with $15,812,311 behind the latter and ''

Inception ''Inception'' is a 2010 science fiction action heist film written and directed by Christopher Nolan, who also produced it with Emma Thomas, his wife. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio as a professional thief who steals information by inf ...

''. Its domestic box-office run ended on November 4, 2010, having accumulated $42,400,223 and as of December 5, 2010 it has also earned $116,889,135 in other territories, for a worldwide total of $159,289,358. It has more than doubled the overseas gross of the first film, although it is the least-grossing film of the series in the United States and Canada. On the weekend lasting from October 8–10, 2010 it surpassed '' Step Up 2: The Streets'' to become the highest-grossing movie of the franchise worldwide. In terms of estimated attendance, it is far behind its predecessors. Besides the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, countries where it grossed over $10 million were

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

($13,869,503),

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

and the CIS ($12,131,409) and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

and

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

($11,537,610).

Accolades

Melissa Muik, the film's music editor, was nominated for a 2011 Golden Reel Award for Best Sound Editing – Music in a Musical Feature Film.

References

External links

* * * {{Jon M. Chu 2010 films 2010s English-language films Step Up (film series) 2010 romantic drama films American 3D films American teen drama films American teen romance films American dance films American musical drama films American romantic drama films American romantic musical films Films about dance competitions Films set in New York City Films shot in New York City 2010s hip-hop films American sequel films Summit Entertainment films Touchstone Pictures films Universal Pictures films 2010 3D films Films directed by Jon M. Chu Films scored by Bear McCreary 2010s American films English-language romantic drama films English-language musical films 2010 musical films