No honey to be found

Honey 2 (2011)
Certified: PG
Duration: 110 minutes
Directed by: Billie Woodruff
Starring: Katerina Graham, Randy Wayne, Melissa Molinaro, Audrina Patridge, Lonette McKee, Christopher ‘War’ Martinez, Brittany Perry-Russell , Seychelle Gabriel, Tyler Nelson, Gerry Bednob
KRS release

The 2003 film Honey is mostly remembered for Jessica Alba’s dance moves. Since the film was a minor box-office success, a Honey 2 was never so much of a Hollywood priority. In fact, it only arrives on screen seven years after the first film and without Ms Alba in tow. Honey 2 sticks to the well-worn formula of the “street dance” movie. This sequel lacks a central star that had made the first film palatable, while the dance sequences which are usually the highlight of such a film lack the flair and necessary aplomb.

Maria Ramirez (Katerina Graham) is a 17-year-old girl with a passion for dancing who has just come out of a juvenile detention centre. She does not want to repeat the mistakes committed before on the streets of the Bronx. Legendary dancer Honey Daniels’s mother Connie (Lonette McKee) takes her under her wing and provides her with shelter, a job and rules. At the centre she meets Brandon (Randy Wayne) who, after seeing her dance, convinces her to join and train the group of street dancers that call themselves the HDs.

This soon leads her to clash with her old boyfriend Luis (Christopher “War” Martinez) who leads the dance crew 718 but also dabbles in drugs. He wants her back in his crew but she is trying to escape the street life. Meanwhile, she puts every effort into training the HDs to qualify for a television show – Dance or Die. If they make it to the finale, the last dance battle will be against Luiz and his crew who were the previous winners. For Maria, like Honey before her, life is about choices; and her choices are all about dancing to find the meaning in life.

Katerina Graham, fresh from the Vampire Diaries series, seems quite lost in the story, rushing through her lines; she only seems to come alive when she is dancing solo, all sweaty and earnest. The film’s music is mostly hip-hop and fans of this genre will have a field day. As such, Ms Graham never rises above the troubled teenager who saves herself and others through dancing. On another note, Ms Graham seems to be too much of a goody two-shoes to have actually ever been out past curfew, let alone get arrested. It also does not help that her male counterpart in this film is played by the bland Randy Wayne. Films like this depend on the charisma that is generated by the two main stars but this is quite lacking here. Gerry Bednob playing store owner Mr Kapoor, is given the thankless role of trying to inject some humour into the proceedings.

The film pales in comparison to Step Up and its sequel, with both films being better – both in the acting and dance stakes. The opening sequence sees two girl crews slugging it out in a dance battle for no reason at all; this might impress the young teens for which this film is mostly aimed for but will leave an older audience baffled.

As it stands Honey 2 is simply an afterthought to a film that was a showpiece for a rising star. The sequel simply has no such star.