StreetDance 2 (3D)

Stars: Falk Hentschel, Sofia Boutella, Tom Conti, George Sampson, Samuel Revell, Stephanie Nguyen

Director: Max & Dania (Max Giwa, Dania Pasquini)

There seems to be just the one basic plot in streetdance musicals, surely a craze that will be short-lived in popularity. Here it is: Streetdancing boy romances girl (or vice versa) from a different dance medium, gets a crew together and challenges the 'invincible' champions at the big finale. It's giving little away to say that the motley crew wins. They always do.

The dancers are no great shakes as actors, but the film does have a bonus in the form of very good 3D camerawork, which gives you the feeling of being up there with the audience on screen.

Our hero (Hentschel), humiliated at the start by the champs, gets the novel idea of of 'street Latin fusion', in which - shock, horror - boys and girls in the crew occasionally dance with each other, and with a vibrancy that puts Strictly to shame.

'Salsa,' says the heroine (Boutella) to the languid hero. 'is about the passion. You have to feel it, mean it.' But there are too many shots here of dancers just looking mean or, arms akimbo. about to go into seen-'em-before moves for the benefit of the cameras: it's just not very cool, and the movie's sparks of originality are more than welcome. Conti's welcome too, even with a bogus French accent, as the heroine's Chevalier-style uncle.

David Quinlan

USA 2011. UK Distributor: Paramount (Paramount Vantage). Colour by FotoKem.
82 minutes. Not widescreen. UK certificate: PG.

Guidance ratings (out of 3): Sex/nudity 1, Violence/Horror 0, Drugs 0, Swearing 0.

Review date: 25 Mar 2012