Donny (Hough) is a New Orleans dancer fresh out of jail and looking to make a new start. He evades his parole officer (Dan Lauria) and travels to New York, where his foster brother Nick (Jonathan) has set up a hot new underground club called Static. Nick`s ex-partner-turned-rival Kaz (Lee) has established the swanky joint Oto in competition; both are no longer on good terms. Kaz`s sister Aya fronts a crew called Cobu which incorporates taiko drums into their dance act. Naturally, Donny is smitten and falls headlong for Aya, their budding romance in defiance of their respective brothers` endeavours. Complicating matters is Michael (Jefferson Brown), a sleazy Wall Street broker who co-owns Oto with Kaz and who has his eye on Aya.
Writer-director Duane Adler is no stranger to dance movies, having previously written Save The Last Dance, Step-Up, Make It Happen and The Way She Moves. These films are known for great dancing and simplistic, teen-friendly storylines. Make Your Move is consistent with those entries in Adler`s filmography in that respect. However, this Korean co-production (made with the involvement of S. M. Entertainment) deserves credit for upping the visibility of Asian talent in Hollywood without over-politicising the matter.
The film takes a while to get into gear, opening with a series of unwieldy exposition dumps. You`d think the makers of a dance movie would know the importance of showing and not telling. Some of the dialogue is also rather cringe-worthy. However, this reviewer has no complaints about the dance sequences, choreographed by Tabitha and Napoleon D`umo, Yako Miyamoto and Nick Gonzalez. These manage to be energetic and elegant when required and are enhanced by Gregory Middleton`s beautiful cinematography, the lighting and composition in a good number of shots pleasantly artful. There`s fire dancing and confetti raining down to justify the use of 3D; we saw the 2D version.
Hough, Dancing With The Stars pro and brother to Julianne, appears to want to follow in his sister`s footloose footsteps in pursuing a film career. He is very much a cookie-cutter pretty boy and more acting lessons are in order, but his physicality and impressive footwork are definitely up to par. K-pop superstar BoA makes her Hollywood film debut here, busting a move, beating a drum (she is Beat of Angel after all) and looking great while at it. Her line delivery is stilted in parts and she has a tendency to sound whiny, but the effort she`s put in is evident and she`s able to muster a decent amount of chemistry with her co-star.
Lee, last seen as Harada in The Wolverine, has been working steadily in Hollywood, with stints on TV shows like Witchblade, Bionic Woman and Hawaii Five-0 as well as in films like Die Another Day and the Red Dawn remake. It`s nice to see him not playing a North Korean military figure and he does a good job as the concerned older brother and savvy business owner. The film touches on the practical concerns of running a club, grounding the story in some reality. Wesley Jonathan, whose previous dance movie experience comprises Steppin: The Movie and B-girl, generates adequate brotherly banter and tension with Hough as our Benvolio/Mercutio mash-up analogue. Jonathan chews the dance club scenery as a supremely slappable slimy corporate type, scoring “villain you love to hate points.
Make Your Move is corny and cheesy at one point, BoA does a “dance of angst but it`s corny and cheesy in the honoured “nobody puts Baby in a corner tradition. There`s an earnestness beneath the “star-crossed lovers, yo story we`ve seen hundreds of times before and yes, while it is an excuse to string together a series of dance numbers, at least there`s a story to begin with here. There`s enough in Make Your Move to appeal to both the American and Asian markets (look out for K-pop star Jung Yunho`s cameo) and as far as silly romantic flicks go, you could do worse.
SUMMARY: If you`re willing to suspend your disbelief from the nightclub rafters, Make Your Move manages to be charming and visually engaging in spite of a plot that`s been used a thousand times since Billy Shakes popularised it with his obscure play.
RATING: 3 out of 5 Stars
Jedd Jong