Honey: Rise Up And Dance /Netflix/

 I hate this movie. While watching this flick, (the fourth in the Honey franchise, that no one asked for) I was shocked to learn that the writer of this film also wrote Stomp The Yard. It's weird, well because Stomp the Yard is a great movie, and this.... is really bad, underdeveloped, lazy and uninspiring.

 I hate to be so harsh because of I love the films lead, Teyana Taylor. She does a decent job acting and she looks absolutely incredible in this role. Her dance moves are really, really, good but I can't recommend this movie to people who appreciate good cinema. Nor can I recommend this movie to people that appreciate good dancing.  Although I even enjoyed the other lead actors and mostly liked the dancing, there were some glaring issues with this film which stopped it from being enjoyable. 

First off, after randomly deciding to join the dance team her sister has been on for years, Teyana's character decides she needs to get in more practice before the huge competition that all dance movies have at the climax of the movie. 

So in order to "better her skill" Teyana starts getting dance

lessons from a young man she meets at the club. As they dance together the two start to grow close and the sexual tension between the two is HAWT *clutches pearls* but the baffling thing is 

the young man  that is supposed to be teaching her to dance...cannot dance! He has some  okay footwork but he isn't even close to being on her level and it's very obvious. This guy is  doing the two-step with some fancy arm movements and she pretends to be just enthralled by his moves! 

While I could believe their growing attraction to one another... as our heroine grinds on ole boy without his shirt on, we can't forget that she has a boyfriend just for the sake of causing drama. It's  very clear she is no longer interested in him but she strings him along anyway... and I'm supposed to root for her and the kid that can't dance?

My biggest problem with this DANCE MOVIE is the music, or the lack thereof, I should say.

Think of Stomp The Yard, Step Up, Save The Last Dance, even the

ridiculous You Got Served, or  any other dance movie ever! Despite the plot points being just okay, they all have great dance music. The music is an integral part of the film. You want to hear songs with crazy, pulsating beats, songs that get you hype. 

This movie plays these weird instrumentals during every dance scene, it's so odd. Most of the time the music doesn't even match the actual dancing. The music and dancing are literally from two different worlds and should never have met each other.

I would even describe the music as actually kind of quiet, as if the dancers are dancing to silence. I wanna see someone ride a damn beat...which Teyana Taylor can do, not using this woman to her full capacity was this films biggest failure and the film suffered for it. Honey Four could have limped along as a "meh" movie with incredible dancing. Instead it's probably one of the most tame dance movies I've ever seen with a laughable plot and a forgettable score making a dead franchise that no one even wanted...even deader.

Rating 1.75/5