Last night James & I went to see the new ‘BBC Films’ production, StreetDance 3D (imdb link).

Short version of this blog post: I really enjoyed it – and you should go see it.

Ok, long version (and I apologise in advance for the rambling nature of this review. It’s late!):

I find the origins and success of this film really fascinating, as it’s both the most successful of the UK Film Council (national lottery) funded films after only a week at the box office¹, and it’s also the first British made 3D film to hit the cinemas. The budget for the film was relatively tiny (£4.5m), especially compared to the rest of the summer releases which typically cost more than 20 times more than that! StreetDance 3D is a real success story for British cinema, so that’s pretty great.

The film itself is based in London, telling the story of a ‘dance crew’ that begin to fall apart thanks to their team captain² quitting only a few months before the UK Championship Final. Carly (Nichola Burley) steps up to take over the group and they eventually end up being thrown together with a group of ballet students headed up by a rather sexy Tomas (Richard Winsor). The predictable conflicts between the two groups crop up, and of course there are bits of romance, betrayal and general comedic moments going on as well.

The film is peppered with familiar faces, including the Britain’s Got Talent winners Diversity & George Sampson. Akai Osei, the winner from the Sky One program ‘Got to Dance’ earlier this year, also had a small cameo appearance (that I have a feeling was slotted in at the last-minute) which is quite a funny moment of the film. Flawless, BGT 2009 finalists, were renamed ‘The Surge’ and played the reigning champions³ who were bent on defending their title. I actually really loved George Sampson’s character the most out of all of the ‘famous characters’ as the character isn’t pushed into centre stage but instead adds comedic value throughout the film, along with his trademark cheeky smile.

If you go to see this film, don’t expect an absolutely spectacular storyline as parts of it are rather predictable – but it’s still a nice feel good story despite that. The acting performances aren’t amazing Oscar worthy ones, but they do improve as the film goes on and I found the characters likeable on the whole. As James said as we walked out of the cinema, the acting was a bit soap opera-ish for the start of the film but gets better after about 20 minutes! The dancing, however, is utterly amazing all the way through the film – as can be expected from the groups and individuals involved.. and it looked fantastic in 3D.

Basically, if you enjoy a nice feel good film & you liked watching Diversity in BGT, go see the film – you’ll enjoy it!

1. side note: I love that it’s beaten the blockbuster ‘Prince of Persia’ in the UK box office this week, even though it was in less screens! [↩]
2. I have no idea if that is the right term to use for the leader of a street dance group. I am lame. [↩]
3. Not much acting required there, since they have actually won the title before! [↩]

Tags: film

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 26th, 2010 at 11:53 pm and is filed under Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.