Coolestmovies Typical underdog story about a fallen dance champ (Park Kyon-hyeong) forced pair up with a mousy Korean-Chinese immigrant (Moon Geun-young from A TALE OF TWO SISTERS) in need of citizenship in order to take back the crown. Plays all the familiar notes from just about any sport competition movie you'd care to remember, but cleverly opts out of the usual, predictable triumphant ending by having Moon enter the big dance finals with with Park's dirty rival (!). Moon's a doll in this, as she has been in everything she's been in so far (think LOVER'S CONCERTO or better yet, MY LITTLE BRIDE). WIth a face seemingly purpose-built for crying at the slightest hint of heartbreak, she can only be a natural; her character has to remain doe-eyed and lovestruck with Park, and typically selfless in spite of his harsh ways, while becoming a seasoned professional dancer in a very short period of time. Another reason I like a movie like this: the leads are actually required to DANCE. Their routines are modest, but frequent long tales reveal that they did indeed learn some killer moves. The championship dance is built from editing more than performer skill, but one can still see the effort being applied.

Meganeguard After nearly having dancing career destroyed when his leg is stomped upon at a dance competition, Na Young-sae is given another chance by his manager when he is paired with an ethnic Korean girl from China Jang Chae-min. In order to keep the girl in South Korea Young-sae's manager informs him that he will also have to marry her. This situation causes Young-sae little grief and he soon goes through the formalities of marrying the girl. However, things quickly turn for the worse when it is discovered that Jang Chae-min is really not Jang Chae-min but is instead Jang Chae-rin, Chae-min's little sister. It seems that Chae-min has a fiancé who is unwilling to marry her if she travels to the decadent land of South Korea. Angered by this situation, Young-sae's manager beats Chae-rin and apologizes to Young-sae. Chae-rin, played by Mun Geun-yeong, however, is determined to learn how to dance so she gets a job at a less than reputable location. After she informs Young-sae of this, he comes to pick up the young girl and bring her back to his home.In Young-sae's flat Chae-rin begins a rigorous study of dance. At first very stiff, Chae-rin soon loosens up and becomes a bit more comfortable with Young-sae. Also Young-sae, whose heart was broken when his former dance partner left him for his rival and South Korea's best dancer Jung Hyun-soo, begins to feel affection for the young girl. However, right when the fruits of their labor near the ripening point, the duo's little world falls apart when Hyun-soo enters into Young-sae's life once more.In the tradition of other dance films such as Murakami Ryu's Because of You, Suo Masayuki's Shall We Dance?, and the like, Park's film Innocent Steps displays how the passionate art form of dancing, especially the samba and the cha cha which are the primary dances in this film, can bring people closer together, however, in this film I think the subject matter is handed rather heavy handedly. A bit of the problem might be with the actress Mun Geun-yeong whose young age and inexperience, she is only eighteen, might act as a bit of a hindrance to being able to portray true romantic love. However, her teary, sniffly performance when she is looking for Park Kyun-hyeong's character is well done and will probably turn on the waterworks for more sensitive viewers. She is also a great crier a skill that is readily displayed in this film.While definitely not a great movie Innocent Steps will make a good edition to the collections of those who enjoy Korean romantic film.

DICK STEEL Na Young-sae was once touted as the best dance trainer in Korea, and was in contention for another trophy during the national dance competition, until dirty underhand tactics by rivals ruined it all for him. Seeking a comeback, his manager and him hatched a plan to import a foreign talent from China, Jang Chae-rin, to partner with him and reclaim his spot at the top.Alas, Chae-rin turns out to be the inexperienced teenage sister of the real mccoy, and Young-sae goes into a frenzy as the championships is only 3 months away. Reluctantly, and realizing the lack of time, Young-sae has no choice but to make do with what he has, and put his training skills to the test in turning a rookie into a professional ballroom dancer.The storyline sounds familiar, like Dirty Dancing's, exploring the situational device of having a teacher and his protégé go through their lives together experiencing new found relationships through the language of dance. They start off awkwardly, and most of the time the plot focuses on the rigorous training in which Young-sae puts Chae-rin through. There is an unnecessary subplot though, of the marriage investigators who probe into the fake marriage between Young-sae and Chae-rin (that's the rouse used to get her to Korea), just to add to some laughs.Dance has always been associated with passion, feelings and love. This movie doesn't stray from these themes, and the main leads heat up the screen with their sensual dance moves, albeit too little screen time. Just when you thought it's time for them to take on the championships and arch-rivals, the plot takes a twist, which I thought was probably an attempt to avoid being predictable.Ladies might want to prepare your hankies for the emotional scene towards the end, where Young-sae and Chae-rin declares their love for each other indirectly at the marriage bureau. Extremely touching that, especially when you think back on their attempts to fabricate a fictional story on their relationship, which has taken on for real.It is of course helpful that the two leads are eye candy. Park Keon-hyeong as Young-sae seemed to have the easier role of the mentor, snarling most of the time with a diva-ish, yet tender attitude towards his protégé. Mun Guen-yeong has the tougher role to flesh, transforming herself from simple naive girl into chic professional dancer, with a heart pining for Young-sae. The chemistry between the two is superb, and their dances together once they got their groove right, just magical.Which of course brings me to my main gripe - I want more! But the attempt to make the story unconventional turned my request down, although the end credits featured a clip of them dancing, serving as some kind of compensation for the lack of dancing screen time. It's not the partner, but the partnership that mattered, said Young-sae. It rocked, and left me wanting more! Some might find it "been-there-done-that", but I recommend this for those who which to get jiggy with it on the dance floor. I found myself tapping to the soundtrack as we get whirled around the ballroom, and I'm sure ballroom dance lovers, or romantics at heart, will do the same too.

Maomao Innocent Steps (international title) is a romantic Korean tale about a cute 19 year old girl (Mun Geun-yeong) from China on a dance contract. She is paid to practice and dance with her partner (Park Geon Hyeong) for the upcoming 'KDFA Cup Korea Dancesport Championship'. For the next three months, she trained hard for the competition. Love blossomed, of course. Being professional during the practices, they did not reveal their feelings to each other.A couple of twists happened and the last 30 minutes proved once again that Korean movies do not bow to mainstream stereotyped story lines or endings. It was a 30% bitter 70% sweet conclusion, not a Hollywood perfect fairy tale. Good flick to watch with your loved one.Mao points: 7/10