With all the teen urban dance dramas hitting theaters these past couple years, you'd think eventually filmmakers would get it right. If How She Move didn't exactly win me over, it did at least give me a glint of hope that there is something to the genre. The movie's closest comparison is Stomp the Yard, a movie that came out around this time last year, and didn't exactly win me over with its cliched plot and characters. How She Move is just as cliched, but it has a lot more energy in its performances and especially in its dance sequences. While I wasn't entirely engrossed in the film's story, I did find my feet moving a little to the expertly choreographed and staged music sequences.

A lot of this energy is supplied by Rutina Wesley, a dancer who makes her acting debut here. She plays Raya, a teenage girl who grew up in a ghetto, but made strives to better herself and has been studying at a private school these past couple years. Her beloved older sister, unfortunately, wasn't so lucky to escape the influence of the streets and has recently died of a drug overdose. Raya's parents can no longer afford to send her to the private school, so she has to return to her old neighborhood with the hopes that she can escape the streets again by applying for a med school scholarship. Before she left her old neighborhood, Raya and her sister used to do a lot of step dancing. When she hears that a competition is coming up with a big cash prize, she knows she can use that money to help pay for her college dreams. Unfortunately, not all of her former friends are happy to see her, including a rival step dancer named Michelle (Tre Armstrong), who still holds a grudge against Raya for leaving them all behind the first time. Raya eventually teams up with a group of dancers led by a fellow student at school named Bishop (Dwain Murphy), and begins training for the upcoming competition. But with her sister's death hanging heavy over everyone at home, and loyalties in the step dancing group being questioned, it will not be an easy journey for her.

The screenplay by Annmarie Morais does not do anything to break any new ground, and plays it completely safe. The characters look, talk, and act the exact same way as they do in other films similar to it. Morais also throws a lot of unnecessary confusion by having her lead character switch loyalties numerous times throughout the movie. After she has a fall out with Bishop, she teams up with another leading dance group led by Garvey (Cle Bennett), who also happens to be a local drug dealer. I don't think it's any surprise to reveal that Raya eventually finds out that Garvey has ties to her sister's death, so she switches back once again to Bishop's side. The relationship between Raya and former friend Michelle also seems rather strained. Some scenes they loathe each other, some scenes they seem to be breaking the ice. It all depends on what the current scene needs. Their relationship doesn't seem developed, rather it seems manipulated by the screenplay itself. The only thing that held my attention during the story moments are the better than average performances. There are some talented young performers displayed in this movie, and I hope they get chances to move on to better things. They bring energy to their roles that never quite made me forget I had seen it all before, but at least didn't make me mind sitting through it again.

It's not exactly the drama that grabs our attention in How She Move in the first place. It's the dancing and musical sequences, which are lively, fun to watch, and really show off the talent and skill of the cast. All of the dancing is unique and it always seems fresh, so we don't feel like we're watching the same moves over and over again. These sequences are obviously where director Ian Iqbal Rashid put all of his attention, and it pays off with energy and style to spare. This is one of the rare times I felt like cheering right along side the audience members on the screen watching the dance routines, as there's some impressive stuff on display. The choreography is credited to Hi-Hat, who only has a small handful of films to his credit including Bring it On and Stick It. She's also credited as the choreographer of the upcoming Step Up 2 the Streets, so it will be interesting to see if that movie holds the same amount of energy when it is released next month. Hopefully it utilizes her talents as much as this film does.

I'd like to make a plea before closing this review. Just once I'd like to see one of these urban dance movies that did not revolve around the exact same plot of escaping from the ghetto, or people from different walks of life falling in love. Surely there must be another story that can accompany this energetic form of dance. How She Move does not get a recommendation from me, but I still found myself liking it a little bit more than expected. I just wish it had a title that didn't make me cringe every time I typed it while writing this review. Is it so hard to add an "s" at the end?

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