Center Stage: Turn It Up (2008)

Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

I absolutely loved this movie. I wasn't expecting much coming in. I figured it would be cheesy, but I was pleasantly surprised. Kenny Wormald is an amazing dancer & there's so much chemistry between him and Rachele Brooke Smith. I was actually hoping they dated in real life after watching it. They are also both excellent dancers so it's fun to see what they'll do next. I was a big fan of the original Center Stage and I'm an even bigger fan of this one. The nice thing about this movie is it's safe for children to watch. I let my 10 year old dancer watch it and she loved it. The original Center Stage I don't let her watch because there's too much sex, smoking, cussing & the part about anorexia. This movie has just a couple mild bad words & there's a little bit of grinding dancing but it's not bad at all. I would say it's safe for 8 and up. Just give this movie a chance. You'll be glad you did.

I can't believe how underrated this film is and how critical some have been about this film. When I first watched it. I was hooked on every scene. I showed this movie to so many of my friends and family that love dance movies and just a feel good film, they all said how good this movie was. The dancing is spectacular by the main character Kate. She is absolutely gorgeous, sexy and really knows how to dance.The acting ability was flawed in a couple of instances but we are talking about people who more than likely have dancing as their first love and profession and acting as an add on so please! ease up all you massively criticizing people out there. WE are only talking about a few instances here anyway not the whole film.I like this film more than the first, I've gotta say. There will be people that will disagree but if you are looking for a light hearted feel good film to watch with plenty of dancing, give this one a go.

I watched this out of curiosity, because the original Centre Stage is one of my favourite movies. I expected that this one would be not nearly as good, and I was right. Even though I would fit the 'target market' for this film (teenage dance student) I found it totally contrived and unrealistic.Part of the reason why I loved the first one so much was that it showed all the hard work and dedication required for ballet, but also had some beautiful dance sequences (especially Ethan Stiefel and Julie Kent in Romeo and Juliet!!) but this one had none of that.The other thing that annoyed me was that the Kate character was supposed to be a self-taught dancer, which I think is just irresponsible film-making! Sure, it may be possible to learn some things on your own, but ballet is not one of them. It's just asking for a broken ankle, or worse. Furthermore, when it's just ridiculous that she would get the lead role in the new ballet, when clearly all the other dancers were BETTER than she was. Particularly her turnout, and her pointe work were weak. The only ballet scene that really grabbed me was Cooper demonstrating the solo to Tommy, but even that felt as though it was only there to give Ethan Stiefel and dance scene.However, I did enjoy the club sequences somewhat, but as this is a sequel to Centre Stage, I felt they were unnecessary, and I would have much preferred a focus on ballet. And overall, I just didn't care about the characters.Overall, even though the original movie wasn't great, it was way better than this. The original totally out-danced, out-scripted and out-directed the sequel. But mostly out-danced.

Something about this movie just gets me every time and I've watched it over and over.Great dancing (ballet, hip hop, tango and jazz), great characters, great love story. Obviously fans of dance movies will enjoy it but I recommend CS: Turn It Up for other audiences also. It has an edgier feel than Center Stage 1 but fans of that movie should see this as Cooper returns and his dancing is AMAZING.Yes it has hip hop but it's not the same old hip hop v. ballet movie. There's no battle between the hip hop and ballet dance styles lol. It's more subtle the way the different dance scenes are included, and almost like a documentary in the way it's filmed.But that doesn't really sum it up. You just have to watch the whole movie--it all ties up so well and brings a tear to the eye. :-) See it!