Save the Last Dance 2

Save the Last Dance 2

DVD cover
Directed by David Petrarca
Produced by Robert W. Cort
Eric Hetzel
Written by Kwame Nyanning
Based on Characters
by Duane Adler
Starring Izabella Miko
Columbus Short
Aubrey Dollar
Music by Marcus Miller
Cinematography David A. Makin
Edited by Trudy Ship
Production
company
Distributed by Paramount Home Entertainment
Release dates
  • October 10, 2006 (2006-10-10)
Running time
 92 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $5,000,000 (estimated)

Save the Last Dance 2 (also known as Save the Last Dance 2: Stepping Up) is a 2006 dance drama film and a sequel to the 2001 film Save the Last Dance. It was released to DVD on October 10, 2006 by Paramount Home Entertainment and MTV. While featuring some returning characters, none of the original cast (including Julia Stiles and Sean Patrick Thomas) are retained from the original film. R&B singer Ne-Yo makes an appearance in the film.

Plot

The film continues the story of Sara Johnson (originally played by Julia Stiles and now portrayed by Izabella Miko). She recalls how she was born to be a dancer. Her mother would often comment that she knew how to pirouette before she could properly walk. From her earliest memories Sara always wanted to be a ballerina, a graceful dancer who could glide across the stage. It seemed that there was something that caused conflict in Sara’s ambition. She also loves the urban dance form of hip-hop. While ballet is highly structured, full of rules and standards, hip-hop gives Sara a chance to let go and follow the beat. Sara wants the best of both worlds but the conflict between structure and independence affects her performance in both genres.

The film is set soon after the original. Sara has made the first part of her dream come true. Her audition with the Juilliard School of Dance worked out well and she was accepted, resulting in her moving from Chicago to New York City. Sara would soon find out that as rough as it was to get there, staying would require raising the bar to almost painful heights. Her main dance teacher, Monique Delacroix (Jacqueline Bisset), is old school when it comes to demanding each student master the traditional and arduous curriculum. She has little to no use for the influence of any other form of dance on ballet, so the concept of hip-hop is not only foreign to the staid teacher, it is repugnant.

During orientation on her first day at Juilliard, Sara meets Miles Sultana (Columbus Short), who takes her for a trombone player. When she tells him she is there for ballet, he questions whether she is a ballerina. Sara boldly states that she is already a ballerina; she is there to become a prima ballerina. This sets up a playful antagonism that ends up in a romantic relationship. Sara also has to deal with the students at her new school. In a high pressure school like Juilliard, the more favor you gather with the teachers the more jealousy you encounter from the students. It is a cut-throat environment with an extremely high failure rate. Among her new classmates is Marcus (Matthew Watling), who infuriates Ms Delacroix the first day for wearing pants that 'swish'. Then there is Katrina (Maria Brooks), who is destined to be the main rival for Sara. It also turns out that Miles is actually her professor for 'Introduction to Hip-Hop Theory'. Miles invites Sara and her friend Zowi to a club, where Sara shows her skills by dancing with a girl. Due to her activities in the club she is late for her ballet class and is scolded and punished by Ms Delacroix. Despite that, Sara tries to impress Ms Delacroix by taking ballet very serious, which makes her decline Miles' request for her to lead them in choreography. However, she later agrees after Ms Delacroix tells her that she is not going to drop her.


Cast

Reception

Christopher Null of Filmcritic.com was critical of the film, complaining it "retreads the original Dance pretty much completely". He notes that Miko lacks the girl-next-door charm of Stiles, but suggests she does make for a more credible ballerina.[1]

Home media

The film was released on DVD October 10, 2006. The DVD includes a making of feature.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 Christopher Null (October 1, 2006). "Save the Last Dance 2". Filmcritic.com.
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