Step Up 2 the Streets

This topic contains:

• overall comments and recommendations
• details about Step Up 2 the Streets's classification and consumer advice lines
• a review of Step Up 2 the Streets completed by Young Media Australia (YMA) on 7 April 2008.

Overall comments and recommendations

About the movie

This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Australian Government Classification Board and the associated consumer advice lines.

YMA review

This review of the movie Step Up 2 the Streets contains the following information:

• a synopsis of the story
• themes
• use of violence
• material that may scare children
• product placement
• sexual references
• nudity and sexual activity
• use of substances
• coarse language
• the movie's message

A synopsis of the story

Andie (Briana Evigan) has been in trouble since her mother died of cancer and she was left in the care of her mother’s friend Sarah (Sonja Sohn).  Andie loves to dance and has joined a street dance crew called the 410 who enjoy making a public nuisance of themselves. Sarah finds she can no longer cope with the rebellious teenager and decides to send her to her aunt in Texas. However when Andie is offered a position at the prestigious Maryland School of Arts (MSA), Sarah gives her another chance.

Andie’s school timetable clashes with her practice times for the 410 crew so she gets thrown out, at the same time earning the scorn of crew leader Tuck (Black Thomas). Andie then recruits members from the dance school to form a new crew. Amongst them is Chase Collins (Robert Hoffman), the younger brother of the school director Blake Collins (Will Kemp). Blake forbids any of the students to perform street dancing, but they disobey his orders and go on to gain the respect of other street dancers.

Themes

Children and adolescents may react adversely at different ages to themes of crime, suicide, drug and alcohol dependence, death, serious illness, family breakdown, death or separation from a parent, animal distress or cruelty to animals, children as victims, natural disasters and racism. Occasionally reviews may also signal themes that some parents may simply wish to know about.

Death of a parent

Use of violence

Research shows that children are at risk of learning that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution when violence is glamourised, performed by an attractive hero, successful, has few real life consequences, is set in a comic context and / or is mostly perpetrated by male characters with female victims, or by one race against another.

Repeated exposure to violent content can reinforce the message that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution. Repeated exposure also increases the risks that children will become desensitised to the use of violence in real life or develop an exaggerated view about the prevalence and likelihood of violence in their own world.

There is some violence in this movie including:

• The members of the 410 crew put on masks and menace passengers on a train but don’t do them any physical harm.
• Tuck and two others beat up Chase quite badly and kick him while he’s down on the ground.
• The 410 crew vandalises and trashes the MSA.
• Tuck again attacks Chase, pushing him up against a wall.

Material that may scare children

Under eight

Children under eight are most likely to be frightened by scary visual images, such as monsters, physical transformations, the death of a parent or child abandoned or separated from parents, children or animals being hurt or threatened and / or natural disasters.

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children under the age of eight, including the following:

• The 410 crew look quite scary in their masks.
• The crowds at the street dances get quite out of control and there are some tense moments between rival crews.

Aged eight to thirteen

Children aged eight to thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic threats and dangers, violence or threat of violence and / or stories in which children are hurt or threatened.

Younger children in this age group may also be disturbed by some of the scenes described above.

Over the age of thirteen

Children over the age of thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic physical harm or threats, molestation or sexual assault and / or threats from aliens or the occult.

Children in this age group are unlikely to be disturbed by anything in this film.

Product placement

The following products are displayed or used in this movie:

• Coca Cola

Sexual references

None of concern

Nudity and sexual activity

There is some nudity and sexual activity in this movie, including:

• skimpy clothing and bare midriffs
• provocative dancing
• kissing
  

Use of substances

There is some use of substances in this movie, including:

• drinking in the streets and at a function.

Coarse language

There is some coarse language in this movie, including:

• ass
• oh my God

The movie's message

Step up 2 the Streets is a dance movie which also involves a light romance. It focuses on the skills of hip hop dancing and contains no real messages.
Parents may wish to discuss the anti-social behaviour seen in the film and the real life consequences of such behaviour.