Remember those 3D movies you used to see in theme parks as a kid? You would spend the whole run time on the edge of your seat waiting for the next object to jump out at you. While Avatar created an entire universe that was complex, robust, and so…three dimensional, I can’t help but admit the longing I sometimes feel when watching a modern 3D movie for something to just….fucking jump out at me. Step Up 3D may not have the emotional depth of the likes of even Paul Blart: Mall Cop, but things (namely arms, bubbles, rain, and feet) fucking jump out at you.

And it’s awesome.

Read the full review AFTER the jump.

There’s really no point to a plot in Step Up 3D. But, if you insist on going into the movie with some knowledge, here you go. The threequel follows Step Up 2’s resident geek Moose (Adam G. Sevani) from Baltimore to his first days as an engineering student at NYU. In tow is Step Up’s Camille (Alyson Stoner), Channing Tatum’s foster sister who somehow has now grown up with Moose. Never mind the logistics. During orientation Moose accidentally dance battles a b-boy from the House of Samurai and catches the eye of the leader of the Pirates, the Samurai’s rival dance gang, who just happens to own a sweet Brooklyn loft where the Pirates live and train for the biggest dance competition in NYC.

Subplots include Moose’s struggle between his old life (engineering and Camille) and his new one(dance BATTLES), the relationship between the Pirate leader, Luke, (Rick Malabri) and a newcomer, Natalie (Sharni Vinson), Luke’s crisis of making rent on his Brooklyn digs, and his itching to maybe, possibly, probably become a filmmaker.

Now that THAT’S out of the way—back to the dancing! Let’s just say that Step Up 3D did not receive the same half-assed 3D treatment of Clash of the Titans. If you are going to see this movie, see it in 3D. Sure it’s manipulative 3D at its finest: arms are thrust, literally, in your face, and rain speckles the camera lens. But it’s incredibly impressive. The dancing is fun, vibrant, energetic, and invades your personal space, making it a thrilling and lively movie minus all that boring talking business.

While the hip hop dance battles are at the heart of the movie—now we’re dancing in the rain!—one of the most impressive bits of dance is when Moose and Camille imp down the street to a remix of “I Won’t Dance” in a single-take. It’s ironic that a movie that’s on the cutting edge of 3D and modern hip hop dance could have the most fun on a sequence that harkens back to “Singin’ in the Rain.”

It’s hard not to go into Step Up 3D without feeling slightly manipulated out of a few extra bucks for the 3D treatment, but once the dancing starts you won’t care. The 3D is impressive, the dancing is fun, and who cares if there’s an actual plot or not?

--Darcie Duttweiler