HONEY 2 (PG, 112 mins) **
Starring Katerina Graham, Christopher ‘War’ Martinez, Randy Wayne, Brittany Perry-Russell, Seychelle Gabriel, Melissa Molinaro, Tyler Nelson, Casper Smart, Lonette McKee, Gerry Bednob. Director: Bille Woodruff.

Arriving eight years after the original Honey, this flat-footed dance sequel high-kicks and somersaults from one predictable set piece to the next.

The ramshackle plot creaks almost as loudly as the painfully-wooden performances led by the remarkably inexpressive Katerina Graham.

Her gym-toned co-stars have clearly been chosen for their gymnastic abilities, while Woodruff gradually builds to the obligatory climactic dance-off.

Unfortunately, at the one moment when the film needs a daring and outlandish choreographic flourish to get the audience on its feet, Honey 2 stumbles and we find ourselves rooting for the heroine’s rivals instead.

The sequel opens in Brooklyn Juvenile Detention Centre, where Maria Ramirez (Graham) wiles away the hours in dance battles with the other detainees.

Released into the care of Connie Daniels (McKee), Maria finds herself drifting back towards bad boy Luis (Martinez), whose 718 crew are vying to retain their title on the televised Dance Battle Zone hosted by Mario Lopez.

When it becomes clear that Luis will just drag her down again, Maria attempts to forge a new path by working in the convenience store owned by Mr Kapoor (Bednob).

She also aligns herself with blonde adonis Brandon (Wayne) and his ungainly dance crew comprising mother hen Lyric (Perry-Russell), impressionable Tina (Gabriel), flirty sex bomb Carla (Molinaro) and double-act Darnell (Nelson) and Ricky (Smart).

As the televised heats begin, Maria faces her biggest test: to keep her new crew together and ignore the taunts from Luis and the 718.

Honey 2 doesn’t deliver anything we haven’t seen with considerable more polish in StreetDance or the Step Up films.

The soundtrack of pulsating dance floor fillers turns up the temperature a notch to tepid.