The Wicked director’s first movies, now streaming, have even better musical sequences

Step Up is more than just the franchise that minted Channing Tatum as a star. It’s more, even, than a franchise that gave us a gem of a sequel subhed. It is also the movie that gave us Jon M. Chu, director of Crazy Rich Asians, In the Heights, and the recent box-office smash hit (and Polygon’s No. 17 movie of 2024) Wicked.

Step Up 2: The Streets was Chu’s first directed feature, and he’d return to the franchise with Step Up 3D. And despite his later, grander musical work, it’s the Step Up franchise that has some of my favorite Chu-directed musical sequences.

If you have seen one Step Up movie — or any dance movie in general, to be honest — you are familiar with the plot. And neither Step Up 2: The Streets nor Step Up 3D will move the dial much; as the critical consensus (topping out on Rotten Tomatoes at 46% with the third movie) can attest, if you’ve seen one, you’ve likely seen them all. A dancer caught between two worlds, forced to conform but dreaming of something they feel deeper. Ultimately they find the fusion of two forms, and (gasp!) win the competition/showcase/emotional battle they’ve been fighting. But that’s all to say: We’re not watching for the plot. We’re here for the dance, the grind, the titular stepping up (to the streets or otherwise).

And on this front, Chu more than delivers. His latest musical offerings are big and flashy — examples of what movies can do to truly adapt musical theater, translating the stage’s energy into the filmic language. For Chu, this often means swirling cameras, fast cuts, and ambitiously staged numbers. By contrast, Step Up 2 and 3 are more in line with older Hollywood dance sequence traditions: long takes, to better emphasize the skill and keep the flow going. All focus on the fancy footwork.

If his newer musicals have sequences that feel like music videos, then the Step Up offerings are the meat-and-potatoes showcases that allow you to just genuinely appreciate the artistry. While the story of dance movies can be stiff, the narrative bursts of passion in a final dance showdown or purely as a demonstration of stakes and personality are where they snap into their groove (both halves reminding you that we come here to watch dancers perform, even if that also means watching them perform acting).

Personally, I’m most partial to Step Up 3D, with dance sequences driven by little bites of character, charm, and more than a little impracticality. Whether it’s a Fred Astaire-remixed oner down a New York street taking advantage of props, a sharp tango, or just another unattainable cinematic loft providing a practice space, Chu lets 3D find its footing by loosening the fabric of reality entirely in those moments and finding something truer. As he holds the camera’s gaze on the performance, we get to see something really special — and that’s before we even get to the final dance battle.

Step Up 2: The Streets and Step Up 3D are now streaming on Hulu.