Honey 3: Dare to Dance | Cassie Ventura strives to put on a Hip-Hop R & J

(Image credit: UNIVERSAL)

Dance dreams in South Africa.

The drippy dance film series kicked off by 2003’s Jessica Alba movie Honey goes to South Africa for its third instalment but the drama remains every bit as bland and boring as before.

In Honey 3: Dare to Dance the story revolves around a Hip-Hop version of Romeo and Juliet, which Cassie Ventura’s expat American dance student wants to put on for her BA degree. But she’s just been kicked out of university in Cape Town for being unable to pay the fees. (She appears to have spent her entire tuition on clothes: every scene sees her in a different outfit.) So in the gung-ho spirit of ‘Let’s do the show right here!’ she takes over a rundown theatre to stage her opus.

To be fair, the dance numbers have plenty of zip, but the scenes in between are painfully predictable, right down to the angry trash-talking rival (Sibo Mlambo) who inevitably becomes a lynchpin of the show. Even more damningly, Ventura’s Juliet has zero chemistry with her Romeo, insipidly played by Footloose-remake star Kenny Wormald.

Certificate 12. Runtime 92 mins. Director Bille Woodruff

Honey 3: Dare to Dance debuts on Sky Cinema Premiere on 11 February. Available on Digital from Universal Pictures.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQtAbnUIilc

A film critic for over 25 years, Jason admits the job can occasionally be glamorous – sitting on a film festival jury in Portugal; hanging out with Baz Luhrmann at the Chateau Marmont; chatting with Sigourney Weaver about The Archers – but he mostly spends his time in darkened rooms watching films. He’s also written theatre and opera reviews, two guide books on Rome, and competed in a race for Yachting World, whose great wheeze it was to send a seasick film critic to write about his time on the ocean waves. But Jason is happiest on dry land with a classic screwball comedy or Hitchcock thriller.