Honey 2 may as well be The Fellowship of the Ring for all the high fantasy it indulges in. After one of the silliest openings I've had the pleasure of laughing through, the direct-to-video pseudo-sequel to 2003's Honey gets down to business, dancing, sliding, leaping and beat-beat-beating its way to an equally ludicrous endgame. I know, I know. This sort of thing has a built-in audience that'll lap up every dance-off, electronica explosion and slang-slinging face-off Honey 2 has to offer, and I'm not a part of that crew. Still, a formulaic screenplay is a formulaic screenplay no matter how you slice it. Contrived is contrived. Overacting is overacting. Ridiculous is ridiculous. Paint-by-numbers filmmaking is... well, you get the point. I have no doubt someone will eat up every second, just as I have no doubt you already know whether you're one of the chosen few or one of the cynical masses.
Just as a cell block dance-off at a juvenile detention center begins to reshape cinema as we know it, feisty seventeen-year-old Maria Bennett (Kat Graham) is loosed upon the world, returning to her Bronx stomping grounds under the supervision of Mrs. Daniels (Lonette McKee), rec center owner and mother to, you guessed it, Honey (Jessica Alba, who doesn't make an appearance in the sequel). But a girl can't live on dance alone, and Maria has to find work. She shaves the edge off her attitude soon enough, though, catches a shoplifter to snag a job at a local grocery store, hooks up with a clean-cut rec center volunteer named Brandon (Randy Wayne), and joins a rough-n-tumble dance crew. Of course, there has to be a rival crew for them to beat in a national tournament -- isn't there always? -- and it's Maria's old crew, the 718, and the "Battle Zone" competition, a televised showdown hosted by A.C. Slater himself, Mario Lopez. Can Maria resist the lure of her old boyfriend (Christopher Martinez) and clean up her act? Can she help Brandon's dancers best the 718 hustlers? Can a band of Hollywood hopefuls play convincing inner city dancers? In short, yep, yep and hellz nizz-oh... ahem, no.
There's as much rhythm to street slang as there is to dance -- not that I'm about to try my hand at either -- and Graham and her co-stars are extremely talented dancers first and serviceable actors third. (Don't ask. I'm not sure what's second, but it isn't acting.) To their credit, the dance sequences are impressive, exciting and fittingly fierce, and come at a rapidfire, almost non-stop pace. You can't go five or ten minutes without a shot of music boom boom boom ba doom booming its way into the mix. The moment the cast opens their mouths it all comes crashing down, but when Maria and her crew do their thing, Honey 2 soars higher than the original. But director Bille Woodruff is better at staging dance sequences than moving montages, meaningful drama or memorable conflict, and it shows every time the sequel flashes its direct-to-video roots. (Yes, the film earned a small theatrical run in the UK, but that was sheer luck.) The romance between Maria and Brandon doesn't deliver either, much as it's thrust into the spotlight whenever the kids take a break from dancing. Watching Wayne work is painful, watching Graham play coy isn't exactly a delight, and watching the pair cling to the straight and narrow would be sweet if it weren't so sappy.
But, God help me, it tries. It really, really tries. For all its preening, there's a passion present that vaults it above the genre pretenders. It doesn't reinvent, reshape or revolutionize the dance-crew flick, but dance junkies will be moving in their seats and getting kinks in their necks trying to pull off some of the spine-crinking moves Graham employs. The drama may be manufactured but the dance is pure, and that's what most genre fans are hungry for. The young dancers pour their sweat and tears into every routine, every celebration, and every shot at stardom. It may not be for everyone, but you have to admire the effort. That said, every time Honey 2 starts to click, a scene arrives to remind you just how awful it can be. At one point an impromptu street battle leads to a humbling dance-off as channeled through a round of Mortal Kombat. Who judges these things anyway? And how does a new crew string together a perfectly choreographed performance after having put all of their work into an audition? No matter. As one fiery dancer puts it: "We got humiliated! Nobody gonna respect us after this! Nobody!" But they do, as expected. And they unravel and come back together, as expected. And spirits rise like hip-hop phoenixes, as they always do. Honey 2 is a decent enough sequel, and a solid direct-to-video genre pic. But it isn't the second coming of dance-crew flicks and it doesn't measure up to the skill of its dancers.
Honey 2 takes its moves to the streets with a slick 1080p/AVC-encoded video presentation; proficient as it is pristine, clean as it is colorful. While a digital video sheen tends to set in from time to time, primaries are vivid, skintones are spot on, black levels are nice and deep, and contrast holds its own throughout. Detail is strong too, even if it isn't what I'd call razor-sharp. Closeups are revealing and well-resolved (even if midrange shots are light on fine textures), edges are crisp and devoid of artificiality, and delineation is noteworthy. I did catch a few instances of minor banding, but none of it was distracting. Artifacting, smearing, aliasing and crush are MIA as well, so no issues there. The presentation never quite escapes its direct-to-video trappings, but I don't have any serious complaints.
It's Universal's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track that steals the show, though. Every funky upbeat and weighty downbeat hits hard, and the film's music gets the full support of every channel. Low-end output is hefty enough to convert the staunchest hater, the rear speakers spread convincing crowd noise and hellacious hydraulic hisses around the soundfield, and the entire experience is bright, boisterous and bristling with activity, just as it should be. Directionality isn't flawless -- Honey 2 favors style over sonic substance -- but it doesn't disappoint either. Regardless, dialogue is warm, clear and neatly prioritized from beginning to end, even when the fiercest dance-offs and deadliest battles are in high gear. It may not be the greatest of films, but you'll be hard pressed to find something wrong with its lossless mix.
Audio Commentary: Director Billie Woodruff makes it a bit tough to dislike Honey 2, if only because his passion for dance, his vision for the film, and his gratitude for being offered the opportunity makes it that much easier to enjoy what he does accomplish. From a dance standpoint, the sequel is actually quite exceptional, and Woodruff details everything that makes it more remarkable than it might seem to outsiders like myself. If you even remotely enjoy Honey 2, be sure to give Woodruff's meek and mild overview a listen.
Deleted Scenes (HD, 14 minutes): Ten deleted scenes are available: "Juvie Dance Off," "Going Out," "718," "Smell the Fear," "Trust Your Instincts," "Talking Trash," "You Got a Gift," "You Traveled this Road Before," "It's Not for the Weak" and "School Rock Swagger."
Dance Sequences (HD, 11 minutes): Full, uncut dance routines with five legitimate dance crews: Fanny Pack, the Quest Crew, the Strikers All-Stars, Super Cr3w and Beat Freaks.
Behind the Dance Crews (HD, 13 minutes): A spunky little EPK that goes behind the scenes of Honey 2.
The Dream Continues (HD, 4 minutes): Explore Honey 2's ties to the original Honey.
Dance or Die Tryin' (HD, 7 minutes): The cast, dancers and choreographers incorporate dozens of styles into the film's dance sequences.
Honey 2 has only tenuous ties to the original, but as direct-to-video semi-sequels go, it has enough fire, flair and technical finesse to dance on its own terms. Unfortunately, the film surrounding all that dancing is a formulaic bust, all the way down to its B-crew performances and genre conventions. Universal's Blu-ray release helps it all go down more smoothly, though, thanks to a commendable video presentation, a groove-to-the-beat DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track, and a decent selection of special features. Still, only dance fanatics need apply. Honey 2 isn't for everyone.
In February, Universal Studios Home Entertainment will bring Honey to Blu-ray. This modern-day melodrama stars Jessica Alba (Machete) as the title character, a hip-hop dancer from East Harlem facing personal and professional challenges as she tries to become a ...
Universal Studios Home Entertainment will release Honey 2 on Blu-ray next February. Director Bille Woodruff's sequel to the 2003 Jessica Alba-vehicle stars Katerina Graham (The Vampire Diaries) as Maria Bennett, a teenager trying to use her street dancing skills ...
All countries
