Born to Dance (2015)
Coming of age tale told through the eyes of 'Tu', an ambitious young man from Auckland who dreams of being a professional hip-hop dancer.
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Redundant and unnecessary.
Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.
This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.
Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.
Ever since the first "Step Up" I have been TIRED and bored by Western dance movies. It was always the same garbage; guy meets girl, girl does ballet, guy does hip-hop, they kiss, enter a competition and win. That's the gist of every American made dance movie. Enter this quiet little film from New Zealand, and I can honestly say that I was engrossed from beginning to end. It isn't just a movie about dancers with some garbage story tacked on to justify the hour and half run time. This is a real movie, with a plot, relate-able and likable characters, and a really great soundtrack. Every worked their butt off to make this movie the best it could possibly be, and it paid off in spades. The story was entertaining, I cared about what happened to the characters, and everyone was just a pleasure to watch. The really star of this movie is, of course, the dancing. I thought South Koreans were the dancing kings, but New Zelanders could seriously give them a run for their money. These guys can MOVE. Every single dance segment was unique, original, dynamic, and a spectacle in and of itself. I got up a few times and tried to replicate the moves, even though I have no memory for choreography.This movie was great and I loved everything about it, except one of the actors; the female American lead. She was horribly untalented, and I knew for a fact that she couldn't really dance. Then I looked at the credits and she had not 1 but 3(!) dance doubles. Why even cast her if she couldn't dance? Because she is somewhat pretty? She dragged down what could have been a perfect cast, and almost ruined the movie every time she opened her mouth. Aside from this horrible casting choice, everyone was like a good friend you wanted to know more about, and if that doesn't make a good movie, I don't know what does.
Born to dance is low budget and we have mostly seen it before, but is that that a bad thing? Short answer, Nope.This is a New Zealand movie so I had to see it and glad I did. It is simple a dance romance movie. But it has its own uniqueness to it. Nothing wrong with the movie. It has a boy who is struggling to make and he eventually sees an opportunity, but is it what it appears to be? Along the way he befriends a girl, but is she who she appears to be? It has some fine dance scenes and decent acting. The main characters are the strongest and that is fine as it should be. The characters play their parts and are very likable and you want them to succeed.Excellent and worth the time. I am not a fan of dance movies, but I find myself constantly watching and enjoying them, not for the concept, but I always expect it to be fun and it has never failed to deliver. Solve all problems with dance....I rate it an 8 out of 10 and have fun.
This film tells the story of an underprivileged young man in New Zealand, who chases his dream to become a hip hop dancer in order to lift him away from a life that's going nowhere.There are lots of dance films like "Born to Dance", and all of them have predictable plots. This film is no exception, but the journey to the inevitable ending is uplifting and fun. The supporting characters are a lot of fun, I especially like the neighbour woman who delivers insightful and motivational lines. The female lead, Sasha, is a great character as well because she is so real and so human. I enjoyed watching this film, as it emanates positivity and has cool dance routines.
Not a fan of hip-hop music or dancing, but I wanted to watch this film because of the Maori Auckland connection. With the "coming of age" billing and the family factor, a single dad taking care of his adolescent son with dreams of making it big if accepted into the K-Crew dance team, it appealed to me personally, too. Tu learns, however, that along with the "big time" comes betrayal and the reality of the "winning at all costs" method many "top" performers in whatever dance field consider SOP. The story is common, but the acting is believable. I'm still no fan of the music/dance genre but it was a fun film with a little romance, a little drama and a "feel good" message and ending: make new friends but stand with the loyal bros who always have your back.