Cast: Briana Evigan, Robert Hoffman, Will Kemp, Cassie Ventura, Adam G. Sevani

Dir: Jon M. Chu

Rating: 2.5/5

After the box office success of Step Up, which grossed $21 million in 2006, a sequel was almost inevitable as a new cast and new director deliver Step Up 2: The Streets.

Andie is a tough Baltimore teen who grew up dancing and is now, after the death of her mother, found a new family with the hottest dance crew in the city the 410 and reigning champions of the Streets, an underground dance competition.

Unable to control Andie's rebellious ways, her guardian, Sarah (Sonja Sohn), has decided to send her to Texas to live with her aunt. But Andie has one last chance to stay with her crew in her beloved Baltimore: the Maryland School of the Arts (MSA).

But her studies at MSA, where she is struggling to fit in, means she spends less time with the 410 which leads to tensions within the group.

However in her fight to be different at school she has a partner in crime in classmate Chase Collins (Robert Hoffman), whose stuffy brother, Blake (Will Kemp), is the school's director and a constant thorn in his younger brother's side.

When the 410 boots Andie out, she and Chase find their own crew of overlooked MSA dancers and take it all the way to the Streets.

It depends how you look at this film which will determine what you get out of it; if you view it as a harmless piece of fun then it's full of entertainment that will pass a couple of hours but if you are looking for a serious piece of cinema then you will be seriously disappointed.

First of all there is nothing original about this movie it's like Dirty Dancing meets Save the Last Dance as Andie struggles to cope after the loss of her mother who encouraged her to dance and be different.

While the story is as deep as a puddle this movie is about dancing and the dance scenes, accompanied by a up to date hip-hop soundtrack, is the movie's strong point.

The first dance sequence comes in the movie's opening scene in one of the train carriages of Baltimore's subway network. And the grand finale comes on a rain-drenched street as the MSA crew fight for the right to show The Streets what they have got.

And what this film lacks for in originality it more than makes up for in energy and enthusiasm as the cast, particularly in the dance sections of the film, give it all that they have got.

But there is a positive message in this film that it's ok t be different as the MSA crew prove that they may not have the conventional talent that their school expects of them but they are talented non the less.

Step Up 2: The Streets is released on DVD 14th July

FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw