Center Stage: On Pointe

This movie would have been better left as an un-shelved idea. I'm a huge fan of the first Center Stage and tolerated the previous sequels but this sequel did no justice to the good name. The actors were horrid, the script was cringe worthy and the story line was beyond ridiculous. It's time to put this horse out of its misery.

Oh, how sad. The Step Up franchise continued to wow audiences with flashy camerawork and dirty dancing, and the original dance movie, Center Stage, got demoted to television. Two years after Step Up made a splash, Center Stage made a sequel and pretty much copied their formula, focusing more on modern and street dancing than ballet. Sixteen years after the original, Center Stage: On Pointe was the third in the trilogy. Peter Gallagher, Ethan Stiefel, and Sascha Radetsky, were sixteen years older, and the latter two transitioned from principal dancers to teachers at the American Ballet Company. Die-hard fans like me will appreciate seeing the three from the original film, but it is a little sad to face the fact that we all get old, and dancers get old faster than the rest of us.

Since appreciation for classical ballet has dwindled in the past sixteen years, Peter, as company director, has agreed to expand the academy with a modern dance branch. Ethan, Sascha, and the star of the second Center Stage (and the remake of Footloose), Kenny Wormald, have "dance boot camp" in a fun cabin in the woods to recruit the best of the best to join the academy. You'll also see Kenny's costar from the earlier film, Rachele Brooke Smith, since it's her younger sister (See, we all get old), Nicole Munoz, who is the lead in this one.

While I'll watch any Center Stage film, my loyalty lies with the 2000 original. I love seeing classically trained ballet dancers, since their dedication to their craft starts practically as soon as they can walk, as they alter their bone structure while their bones are still soft and pliable. Modern dancers have to learn techniques and possess great muscular control, but they don't permanently alter their bodies for the chance of a few successful years of dancing before injury or "age" (at thirty) cuts their careers short. It's just not the same thing. Ballet is danced to classical compositions; modern dance is set to rap and hip hop, and frequently relies on sexuality to attract fans and viewers. I'd rather watch a ballet performance than an MTV video, even though the dancers in the latter have practiced and worked very hard.

I'm kicking myself. I overloaded my flash drive that had the 2000 original, bkew the damn thing, and now cannot replace the Amanda Schull original, it is nowhere to be found. I got this in its place, at least, it's something in similar vein. Gmph! Gmph! Bull you know what! Like everything Hollywood in later years, down, down, down... I am reminded of the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show dilemma. "It's not cool to us fat people." So burn it!

The aerodynamic antics of the ballerinas can keep you spellbound. They are worth ten times the price of entry. This modern junk, this less-than-aesthetically-pleasing crap, you know where it belongs... or we used to know where it belonged as far back as the Nineties. But now we gotta be politically correct and give the uglies the revenge they finally, finally have

I'm an ugly too. I rejoiced in watching the beautiful. But beauty and elegance is no longer celebrated.

Man, I loved the first Center Stage. This one was just awful. The main character actress choice is all wrong. She is so flat. She plays it safe, there is nothing charismatic about her. Which is the downfall for so much of the film when she is in so much of it. The chirography is dull, flat, utterly lifeless. They almost seem to know this which is why they dont focus on the dancing but put in pointless slow-motions and close ups of faces. Poorly written, so cheesy, its actually embarrassing to watch. Of all the dance movies I have seen, this is sadly the worst. Just too many bad choices here...

When the ABC Company, who's been focused only on classic ballet for many years, gets on the verge of bankruptcy, they decide to mix it with modern dance in order to attract more people to their shows but also investors. A dance contest is organized and the selected ones are sent for six weeks into a camp for training and final selection.

The story focuses on a girl who specializes in modern dance but must now adapt to a new world of rules and obedience which ballet requires. Together with her partner and new friends, they must help each other in order to pursue their dreams. Although it sounds pretty cliché, the idea is good enough. Unfortunately, the plot isn't good enough, being very linear, superficial and predictable most of the time. The characters are likable and although not very complex, they manage to create and maintain a good dancing atmosphere which is pleasant to the eye. You'll also find some pretty enjoyable music, making it a pleasure to see the actors dance. As said before, it's a shame that the plot is not helping much, leaving much room to improve, especially in terms of depth. It has a tendency of simplifying things way too much, making the predictable finale even less satisfying than it would have been.

Let me put it this way, if you like music and dancing, you'll find a good movie to watch in this one. If you expect to see a good story and well defined characters which can provide suspense, drama and emotion, you're going to be disappointed by it.