Let's get this out of the way first and foremost: "How She Move" is an incredibly stupid title. The plot of this new foreign (Canadian) film from Paramount Vantage and MTV Films, written and directed by virtual unknowns Annmarie Morias and Ian Iqbal Rashid, really isn't as bad as the title suggests.
After her sister dies of a drug overdose, a tragedy that leaves her family with next to nothing, Raya Green (played by Rutina Wesley) can no longer afford to attend her prestigious boarding school. Returning to the poor, inner city neighborhood that she had tried so hard to escape, Green struggles to avoid falling in with the same people that caused her sister's death.
While Green stays away from the gangs and drugs that took her sister, she is drawn into the world of stepping, a form of hip hop dancing. After getting into a very "You Got Served" (2004) step-off with Michelle (Tre Armstrong), a rival at school, Green gets noticed by Bishop (Dwain Murphy), an old friend who happens to be the head of a local step crew. At first reluctant to train, Green soon realizes she could use the prize money to pay tuition and get back on track to medical school and finds herself trying to convince Bishop to let her join his crew, J.S.J.
Bishop's talented yet often overlooked younger brother, Quake (Brennan Gademans), helps Green train, and she soon impresses the crew in yet another heated step-off. The men of J.S.J. are thus convinced to let a female on the crew.
Between drama with her parents, cramming for a scholarship test to get back into school, and drama with her new schoolmates, Green's life is more than busy, but she and the men of J.S.J. practice their stepping and make it through various competitions. Though her situation begins to improve, Green is kicked off the crew after attempting to freestyle at a competition. Bishop's rival, the smoky-voiced Garvey (Cle Bennett), then snaps up Green for his own crew.
At the competition, Green realizes that Garvey is exactly the sort of person she had been trying so hard to avoid, and, at the suggestion of Michelle, she helps Bishop with his own problems and gets back on the J.S.J crew. Although they are initially hard to swallow, many of the plot elements fit together nicely in the end. The movie, as it turns out, is about more than just dancing. Even though it's clear that dancing comes first and acting second for most of the cast, nearly all of the main players give wholly believable performances.
All of the the dance sequences are over the top, often eliciting cheers from the audience. Rather than relying totally on fast cuts and dizzying close-ups, the filmmakers wisely set the camera back in order to give us a wide view of the action, truly showcasing the performers' talent during the most impressive sequences. These dancers move in ways that hurt to even think about, and had the entire film been edited in the usual hyperactive music video style, the effect would have been lost.
In addition to the editing, the cinematography is also one of the film's strong points. The action that takes place in the projects of New York City looks gritty, washed out and muted, while the final dance-off, the "Step Monster" competition in Detroit, is rich and vibrantly shot with its bright lights and cheering crowds.
The film succeeds in being more than just a showcase for the dancing, but not by much. Character development is sorely lacking for nearly everyone, and a subplot involving Green's parents' marital issues, which easily could have been explored more fully, is largely glossed over. The audience is often asked to not question the action on screen, and some integral parts of the story, such as the feud between Bishop and Garvey, are barely explained.
"How She Move" is not a terrible film. It isn't great, but it is better than it could have been. It's an underdog story with some pretty spectacular dancing and some mediocre acting.
It's a shame that "How She Move" is destined to suffer an unfortunate fate. The marketing for this movie has entirely failed. The commercials made it seem dumbed down and much glitzier than it is in reality, and, not to beat a dead horse, the title could use some work.
If director Ian Iqbal Rashid was attempting to answer a question with "How She Move," it will certainly go unanswered for many viewers.
