'Step Up' Sequel Channels Occupy Wall Street, Slams Capitalism

The “Step Up” franchise will never be confused with anything by far-left filmmaker Michael Moore.

The emphasis in these films is on nubile bodies, impossible dance moves and simplistic storytelling.

“Step Up Revolution,” the fourth film in the franchise opening nationwide tomorrow, apparently takes a page out of Moore’s playbook.

Several film critics are reporting “Revolution” channels the Occupy Wall Street movement, a dying social agenda known for its violence and incoherent messaging.

Oh, and the movie also casts a withering eye on capitalism – the same market-based philosophy that demands we keep getting “Step Up” sequels as long as each new installment earns a tidy profit.

The Onion, a reliably left-of-center outlet, describes the new film’s plot in in bold terms:

To top it off, McCormick’s dad (Peter Gallagher) is, yes, an evil developer who wants to raze Guzman’s underprivileged Miami neighborhood to put up fancy condos. Is there some way Guzman and his dancing buddies can forestall this by putting on a show? Maybe, though not in the usual fashion–since they can’t just earn some money and pay Gallagher off, they have to take their dance to the street in the form of political protests, mirroring the Occupy movement that’s churning up the cultural zeitgeist, but coupling it with big, flashy dance displays.

Let’s just ignore this critic’s fanciful description of OWS as “churning up the cultural zeitgeist.” 

The Onion contends the film isn’t done slapping capitalism around just yet:

And hanging over it all is a cartoony class conflict, of the kind that equates financial success with heartless evil, and poverty with youthful vitality and the capacity for human emotion.

Just more of the same from Hollywood’s million dollar message machine, the kind that works around legal roadblocks like the Citizens United case with nary a peep of protest from the media.

Follow Christian Toto on Twitter @TotoMovies