I enjoyed this film, though it benefitted heavily from the low expectations I had going in. It probably can't be considered a "good" movie when viewed in a larger cinematic context, but if considered solely within the genre of the "dance" movie, it acquits itself well, avoiding some of the genres pitfalls. It's not ideal for a film to show merit only when graded on a significant curve, but if the goal in seeing the film is just to kill an hour and a half, it can suffice.
The story, about forbidden love against the backdrop of feuding New York clubs, is nothing to write home about, but I was impressed that it wasn't just one giant buildup to a big "Dance Battle" at the end of the film. My experience with dance movies is limited, so perhaps I'm being unfair, but that's what every other film I've seen in the genre has ultimately been about. To see that plotline averted was refreshing.
I also thought that the dancing itself was more skillfully integrated than in other films I've seen. In my previous experiences with dance films, they would come to a complete halt every time anyone started dancing, making each instance of choreography show-stopping in a bad way. Here, an effort was made to tie the dance sequences into the plot, allowing them to serve as expressions of the character's emotions instead of just being dances for their own sake. Sometimes dances were even allowed to occur in the background of a scene and would even be cut away from as the characters in the foreground took action to further the plot. While the plot the choreography was servicing was very thin, it was a pleasant surprise to see a film in this genre where the dancing served the story instead of the other way around. By taking some of the biggest problems that exist within the genre and fixing them, "Make Your Move" managed to become, if not a good film, at least a fun one.
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