We Rock? I Don't Think So.

ohmysim

Living in the UK, Camp Rock doesn't premiere here until September. Luckily, being the die-hard Jonas Brothers fan that I am, I managed to watch the movie on YouTube.

I like Disney -- it's lighthearted, fun, upbeat. This is what Disney movies should be like, but Camp Rock was not.

With the potential to be such a good movie, I was highly disappointed with Camp Rock. The trailer was great -- we get snippets of catchy songs, a girl trying to find her voice and a shirtless Joe Jonas. Excellent.

However, on viewing, Camp Rock was entirely one-dimensional and formulaic. Disney is a liar - this is in no way, shape or form original. Every facet of this film feels contrived and forced. The characters are 100% recycled from High School Musical, and executed with considerably less panache.

An annoying aspect of this film was the sheer number of pointless extras lumped into the film for the sake of it. For example, the girl played by Jasmine Richards -- she barely said anything for the entire film, and it was apparent that her sole purpose was to tick the "WE AREN'T RACIST!" box. She then wins the contest, thus proving my point. Her voice is average at best, and yet she wins the contest over Demi Lovato's "This Is Me", a better song, carried by a much better voice, by a prettier girl!? Of course everything in a DCOM is exaggerated but I found this ridiculous. Incidentally, this exact scene happens both in the film Camp (2003) and Raise Your Voice (2004), when the quiet black girl wins the finale contest. Is this Disney's attempt at a plot twist!?

Not to mention the people who sing "Hasta La Vista", who again, do not do anything of significance in the film.

Or perhaps the role of the Jonas Brothers? Great guys, great voices, great songs. Wasted in this film. Jonas fans will be disappointed to find Kevin and Nick with very little screen time, and equally little point. It is blindingly obvious that Nick and Kevin have only been put into the film so that it could be plugged as "starring JONAS BROTHERS!", that it is painful. This would not even be that bad, if they were given some decent material. Unfortanatley, Kevin comes across as gay and dim-witted, and Nick does not do anything. I don't think Camp Rock is by any means an accurate judge of their acting ability, as they have not been given the material to showcase whatever acting talent they may (or may not) possess. I think it would have been a better move for both the Jonas Brothers and for the movie as a whole to include Joe Jonas only, instead of completely milking it, embarrassingly so.

Did I mention that the "bitchy" girl got what she deserved in the end, and lost all her friends?

Or that Shane and Mitchie don't kiss at the end?

Of course this film has its good points.

Demi Lovato, Disney's newest Tween Queen, has a surprisingly good voice (even though she is terrible at lip syncing), and is cute and smiley enough to make for a likable female lead. Her main song, "This Is Me", is great, and it was a wise choice for Disney to cast her as the main role in this film, instead of someone with more STAR POWER (which not always equal talent), like Miley Cyrus.

Joe Jonas was much better than I expected, even if the transition from "jerk" to "missunderstood" was choppy. "Gotta Find You" is a strong ballad, and he has a gorgeous voice. Not to mention the dancing in the tight, white skinny jeans.

Pretty much all of the songs in this movie were great and I have ordered the soundtrack, despite my feelings about the movie overall. Standout tracks include "This Is Me", "Gotta Find You" and the ever-energetic "We Rock". Also look out for CD bonus track "Our Time Is Here". Worth a listen.

TO SUMMARISE - Great music - Cute boy - Cute girl - Unashamedly weak plot - Bad dialogue - Countless idle characters unable to shine with lack of material given

Watch this if you like Disney music. Watch this if you think Joe Jonas is hot. DON'T watch this if you think it will be like HSM -- you will be disappointed.

I support the Jonas Brothers in every decision that they make, but even I know that they did not need this film on their resumes.

Camp Rock 2 is a mistake waiting to happen. Let's hope they can afford Kenny Ortega to pick up the pieces.

score 5/10

ohmysim 25 June 2008

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw1899263/