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Honey 2
| Released |
10 June 2011 |
| Director |
Billie Woodruff |
Starring
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Katerina Graham, Mario Lopez, Audrina Patridge, Seychelle Gabriel, Randy Wayne |
| Writer(s) |
Alyson Fouse, Blayne Weaver |
| Producer(s) |
Paul Hellerman |
| Origin |
United States |
| Running Time |
110 minutes |
| Genre |
Comedy, drama, dance |
| Rating |
PG |
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Sickly sweet.
It would be a rare feat indeed to find an urban dance movie that does not follow the cliché-ridden path of its Step-Up predecessors. With credible box-office returns, the studios which back this genre appear inconceivably content to churn out the same tosh every year or so. The premise can be summed up in a mere sentence: Tough yet vulnerable lead who shows a passion for dance falls in with a 'crew' who subsequently fight their way to the top despite all the odds stacked against them. Honey 2, directed by BET's wunderkind Bille Woodruff, has sadly strayed none too far from the rules.
Maria Ramirez (Katerina Graham) has just been released from 'juvi' (juvenile detention centre) where she served time for breaking and entering after taking the rap for ex-boyfriend Luis (Christopher Martinez). Determined to get her life back on track, she focuses her energies on her parole duties-which incidentally entail mopping the floors at Honey's street dance school. No sooner have the suds dried than Maria's lust for dance overwhelms her and with heaps of attitude, she shows the other students her 'flavour.' With much soul-searching and furrowed brows, Maria joins a crew who are on their way to winning a televised dance show, fronted by Mario Lopez (basically America's Best Dance Crew). However just as things seems to be going well, Maria's ex-lover Luis makes an unwelcome return to the fold in a rival dance group. Can Maria put the past behind her and clinch the Battle Zone title or will her complicated history threaten to overwhelm her?
Cheesy one-liners know no bounds in Honey 2. What is perhaps confusing about this and similar types of dance movies is who exactly the target audience is. On the one hand, it appears that the less-than-difficult storyline points to the unencumbered pre-teen age group, yet the over-sexualised dance moves with gyrating pelvises left right and centre completely warrants the PG cert. It seems that the genre is trying to appeal to too many discordant factions at once and the result is a confusing and ridiculous movie which trundles along, albeit to a kick-ass soundtrack, until it reaches its predictable conclusion. Graham is likeable enough as the feisty tough-talking Maria while her love interest Brandon (former reality-contestant Randy Wayne) has just enough charm to carry off the head-smackingly awful script. However one too many awful montages of street performances and the requisite hair-tossing and grinding means Honey 2 is every bit as syrupy and silly as its name suggests.
- Louisa McElwee |
