In my review for How She Move earlier this year I mentioned that said movie marked a significant shift for the genre, into one with genuine drama rather than fabricated, senseless filling. Going into Make It Happen, I have to admit, I wasn’t feeling optimistic as the movie had thus far been marketed to appear more akin to the terrible Step Up 2 than to the gritty, heart-felt How She Move. Thankfully however, my preconceptions were proven false, as director Darren Grant here crafts a magnificent testament to what a dance drama should really be about; enthralling, exciting, passionate dances and characters moving not only to the music, but to their own, elegant but down to earth story. Straying far enough from the standard plotlines of the genre Make It Happen does enough to distinguish itself from amongst the formulaic, transparent mess that has so far populated the genre, and does so with visual, aural and heart-driven flair that only the most rigid and stern viewers will be able to resist.

To be fair, the movie does feel like at times like a standard dance movie, and its plot, which centres on yet another young hopeful talent trying to get into a dance school against the odds, is nothing that hasn’t been done before. Yet what separates the movie from its predecessors is the subtle shift away from the competition of dance that too often paints esoteric, numbing colours over everything else, and more onto the characters and their stories within and around all the choreography. Both this and How She Move are about why these people are dancing, and what drives them to do so, and that is what makes it engaging to watch. Setting main character Lauryn (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) up to fail at the beginning, the script takes a great deal of time to detail the character’s inner struggles, with herself and with the friends she meets in Chicago. Through this down to earth premise the writers establish a character and plot that we can invest in even if we’re not interested in dancing or music; ostensibly Make It Happen is all about making it into dance school, but the film makers go out of their way here to allow dancing to represent anything that one may profess in, and as such, the story more often than not flows rather than sporadically interests to those outside of the target audience.

Where How She Move went for a much grittier, darker tone however, Darren Grant here takes a much more romantic route, dealing with domestic troubles, but balancing it out with a touching romance story that always feels welcome and is developed with enough character and chemistry to warrant more than a side glance. Furthermore, the subplot involving Lauryn’s brother is never pushed upon us, and it never feels perfunctory for the sake of padding out character or plot; there may be small instances of cliché formula present, but the majority is delivered well enough to feel natural and interesting. Mary Elizabeth Winstead plays her role perfectly here, with enough timid uncertainty and humanist warmth that propels her character far above the standards of the genre. What’s even more satisfying however is seeing the pairing of Winstead with love interest Riley Smith, as both share a chemistry that is down to earth and reaffirming of a simpler, much less generic love story that isn’t interested in sweeping grandeur statements. Through the performances from all involved and the themes present in the script, the characters themselves take centre stage rather than the dancing or a superfluous need to throw in melodrama. It’s a satisfying, intelligent and heart-felt direction that hardly ever lets down.

Of course a dance movie wouldn’t be complete without its choreography, and so it was even more of a shock to find plenty of the best quality stuff to be put out all year, right here. Situated mostly in a burlesque club in Chicago, Make It Happen is a lot more passionate, feminine and sexy than all that has come so far this year, offering plenty of styles and levels of spectacle that feels both intimate and poignant concurrently. Of course there are plenty of the usual contrivances to be found here, yet they never take the eye off the beautiful images that are on screen; it’s mesmerising and downright entertaining to watch. Again Winstead proves her versatility here and fills in the much more flamboyant, passionate side of her character perfectly, embodying the confidence rooted in her talent, and the undeniable sex appeal of her moves. Julissa Bermudez also has one of –if not the¬- strongest, enrapturing sequences throughout the entire film during a slow moving, eloquent, brilliantly shot dance scene that is very hard to draw the eyes away from (even if you wanted to, which you won’t). To be sure, the movie does follow the typical dance-drama-dance-drama, routine found in most of the genre’s features, and this structure can become too obvious at points, yet look in some of the greatest action movies of this year and you’ll be sure to find a similar idea.

In the end, it was a combination of the script’s ability to craft real-life, three-dimensional characters (at least one, anyway), and the directors undeniable talent for creating beautiful, sexy and ludicrously entertaining sequences brought to life from tight dance choreography that won me over. Six months ago I walked out of Step Up 2 thinking I’d never be able to watch a dance movie without feeling artistically drained ever again, yet thankfully both this, and the earlier How She Move have reaffirmed that there is genuine reason to take the genre seriously as a refreshing, original art form. Combining top class dancing with a fluffy, heart-warming romance story alongside a standard but downplayed domestic struggle, Make It Happen is the finest example the genre has put out in a long time, and while it does have its fair share of tired clichés and obvious structural devices, the majority present is entertaining and effective in its simplicity. The end result, although predictable and structured erratically, is a glamorous but poignantly emotive drama splashed with plenty of great dance scenes and choreography which entertains and compels beginning to end.

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