Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

Honey 3: Dare to Dance Blu-ray Movie Review

Seen one, seen 'em all. And not just in this franchise.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman August 27, 2016

Movies like Honey 3: Dare to Dance didn't always exist. At least not in the bulk quantities that studios are spitting out these days. Films featuring extreme human talent were once part of a thriving niche market where talent alone, not a cheaply put together narrative with derivative storylines and empty drama, brought eyes onto screen. Filmmakers like Warren Miller beautifully captured extreme skill and spent a little time getting to know the people behind the talent, but did so without cluttering the screen with manufactured narratives. Then studios realized there was a market for movies that both showcased talent and told a story of triumph in the face of adversity. Honey 3 follows the same structure and style of all the others: Step Up, Stomp the Yard, You Got Served and, certainly the first Honey films. They may showcase different dancers and routines but don't stretch the material in any way beyond. They're all constructed on the same, tired stories and themes that only serve to extend the runtime of what is otherwise little more than dance compilation films.

The crew.

Melea (Cassie Ventura) is a highly talented dancer who dreams of presenting her college thesis in the form of a Hip-Hop dance version of Romeo & Juliet. It was her late mother's favorite play, and she hopes to honor her by combining her love of dance with her mother's admiration for Shakespeare's most famous work. Her hopes seem dashed, however, when she's kicked out of school for failure to pay her tuition. Her scholarship isn't enough to cover, so she needs to make money, and she needs to keep her dream alive: stage the performance all on her own and pay her debt with big box office returns. Her work attracts a lot of attention and she even gets to use a dilapidated old theater to stage the work. Can she bring together a disparate group of dancers to pull off the impossible?

Honey 3: Dare to Dance is everything one would expect it to be, and that's its primary problem. The dancing is contagiously fun, the music is happening and hip, and the performers are really good -- at least on the dance floor -- but everything else is just a spiffy looking shell. There's no good reason to watch, at least not for the story. The film, try as it might to bring some interest to the material by sprucing up a Shakespeare play, of all things, for the Hip-Hop age is unique if nothing else, but it's otherwise all been done before. Great dancer is struggling to pay her way through school. She lives to dance. She wants to honor her mother by dancing to her mother's favorite play. She makes enemies, mends fences, and finds new friends. Inspiration comes from unlikely sources. Help is on the way from old acquaintances and unexpected places. And everywhere Melea goes, dance follows her. It's everywhere. It's not her life. It's the world. There seems to be nothing else. The movie lives up to the root word "move." It's always in motion with tons of nifty and very well choreographed dances, both moments and lengthy battles and performances alike. The story just doesn't do it any favors, but then again nobody can really say with a straight face that it matters beyond serving as a framework for dance.

The movie does piece together a likable enough cast and collection of characters, even if they're hardly bastions of creativity. Camaraderie is fine amongst them, on the screen for sure and, in dance, they all seem to feed off the others' obvious energy and enthusiasm for their craft. The raw acting isn't the greatest, certainly, but the cast's apparent comfort in the roles, in the dramatic moments and dance moves alike, help to mask any technical shortcomings of the performances. The actors also help to elevate the stale dramatic material just enough to keep the film out of the gutter in those semi-rare moments when there's no dancing on the screen. They seem to care, and if nothing else the sense of struggle and, later, hope and determination feel alive and well inside Melea's heart. It's hard to really badmouth the movie too bad. It cares, from its technical construction on down, and the dancing is fantastic. It's too bad the core isn't strong enough to carry it the rest of the way.

Honey 3: Dare to Dance Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Honey 3: Dare to Dance features a crisp, clear, lively, and wonderfully colored and detailed 1080p transfer. Vibrancy is the transfer's strong suit; colors dazzle with tremendous saturation, diversity, and vividness. It's an abundantly colorful film, and each shade jumps off the screen with striking detail and punch. Texturing is fantastic. Straight, curled, and braided hair all appear amazingly revealing. Clothing -- leather jackets, dress shirts, T-shirts, all of the varied textures on display -- is always a highlight. Skin details are fantastic, from facial hair to a scar on Melea's forehead that reveals fine depth and natural definition around the edges. Environmental details are terrific, with various rougher urban surfaces being particularly revealing. Skin tones hold true and blacks are pure. The image is meticulously clean and free of all but the smallest hint of source noise. It's a shame Universal didn't release this on UHD...it would have been a looker.

Honey 3: Dare to Dance Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Honey 3: Dare to Dance's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack is terrific. It's mostly music, with a fantastic, pulsing, deep, and powerful low end power that's as detailed as it is potent. The listening area feels frequently saturated with thunderous bass that strongly supports, but never overwhelms, the music it accompanies. Music clarity is fantastic. Spacing is big and effortless, with the surrounds carrying plenty of material and playing with more of a balanced and complimentary feel than usual. Atmospheric effects are fine when engaged, such as sounds around a busy cafeteria. Dialogue is presented with good center placement and detail. Music is where it's at here, and this track will certainly stretch even the best sound systems.

Honey 3: Dare to Dance Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Universal has provided a surprisingly generous amount of extra content for the direct-to-video Honey 3: Dare to Dance. A DVD copy of the film and a voucher for a UV/iTunes digital copy code are included with purchase.

• Deleted Scenes (1080p, 11:42): Ex-Gangsters, Erik and Melea Dance, Ms. Lee and the Inspector, Melea Jogs, The Lumberyard, Melea Does Not Have the Rent Money, Mr. Wright Cries, Erik's Thesis Recital, Erik and Taj Backstage, and Erik and Taj Backstage Alt.
• Extended Dance Sequences (1080p, 14:22): Introduction, Meet Crystal, Street Dancers, Schoolkids, Plate Dance, and Hip-Hop 'Romeo and Juliet'. Unfortunately these play with only a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack, which doesn't lessen the dance itself but lessens the total impact of each extended sequence.
• Behind the Dance: The Making of Honey 3 (1080p, 6:03): A look at the role South Africa played in the movie, providing both shooting locations and dancers for the film. The piece also looks at dance choreography, performances, and more.
• South African Backdrop (1080p, 2:22): Cast and crew discuss working in South Africa, implementing South African culture into the movie, specific shooting locations, the area's life-beat, and more.
• Battle Dakota Club (1080p, 1:58): Shooting a scene inside a club, with emphasis on the challenges of choreography and the physical demands of making a dance sequence.
• Audio Commentary: Director Bille Woodruff offers a good, solid overview of his movie, covering all of the little snippets found in the previous supplements -- shooting locations, dancers, performances, choreography -- while adding plenty more depth, detail, and nuance to the behind-the-scenes process. The track is a little spread out with some small gaps, but fans of this film or the larger genre should find it to be of enough value to warrant a listen.

Honey 3: Dare to Dance Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

What Honey 3: Dare to Dance lacks in imagination beyond its dance, it more than makes up for in enthusiasm. The film is well made, acted just well enough to keep the audience involved, and the cast does all it can to sell, with some passion, a story that doesn't really push any real, tangible, emotionally sincere buttons. It's just a frame for the dance, which is excellent, and should prove enough of a draw for hardcore genre fans to flock to it. Universal's Blu-ray is a well-rounded package, yielding top-of-the-line video and audio alongside a healthy allotment of bonus content. Recommended to genre fans, but those who have fatigued on the genre should skip.