Were We Rocked? [Read]

And now we can exhale.

I am so glad the hype is over…now I will be waiting to see what kind of audience numbers tuned in…

I LIKED IT! The thing that struck me the most was what a very different film this was from High School Musical, in a fundamental way, and what a lame comparison that is. It is unfortunate baggage for what turned out to be an ultimately charming movie.

I have seen many Disney Channel Original Movies. My expectations were low. Some are horrific, people – and this was pretty great for a DCOM. My opinion if a comparison has to be drawn?

In DCOM terms, it is a scrappy “FAME“-lite to High School Musical’s glossy “Grease“-lite.

More thoughts, reviews, media and a request from the Guys follow…

WARNING: CONTAINS PLOT SPOILERS!!!

It was a music showcase movie, not a burst-into-song-outside-of-the-diegesis, candy color and spangles situation. A chance to be a bit more spare in the presentation of music, and the people singing it. I love the Jonas songs, naturally, but so many of the other movie songs have won me over. And I don’t think a single song embarrassed me (except for the silly 5 second keyboard solo they slapped on Alyson Stoner’s otherwise excellent character, Caitlyn, which can’t count), not even Hasta La Vista.

And Joe. No, I am NOT impartial. But my goodness…and I think if you are familiar with Joe’s workaday antics, his portrayal of the Shane character is even more effective. You just know he’s actually acting. (As opposed to in the spectacular Burning Up video, where yeah, there’s our wacky Joe.) I liked him all around, such a natural (to say he looked great is just unnecessary)…but his ruddily emotive, in-your-face moments (yelling at Mitchie, the final duet) got me best. As a superfan, I can’t help but be really proud to see him almost entirely outside of his comfort zone. I think he could go far with the right guidance, to the right roles. My favorite of the praise he has earned for this comes from the Houston Chronicle:

It’s Jonas, however, that’s a real revelation. He’s natural and charismatic onscreen, much more so than HSM heartthrob Zac Efron. He never falls into the Disney trap of overplaying scenes, often suggesting emotion with subtle facial expressions. Expect his turn here to send fans into full-tilt hysteria.

Gotta agree!! That said, his comfort zone moments (when Nick and Kevin reappear) were great – calming and joyful. Seeing those three guys together simply makes happiness, and for me the movie picked up momentum to get me over any initial hesitation from the Play My Music performance on. Apparently the New York Times, agreed (in an otherwise iffy review):

The film has two high points. One is when the Jonas Brothers (in the story their band is called Connect Three) deliver their song “Play My Music” to the assembled campers, showing the verve and stage presence the film’s other performers lack.

Which reminds me, Kevin and Nick completely exceeded my expectations and were hilarious. (Joe as the straight man…who ever woulda thunk?)

Other good things? Demi Lovato’s performance was very strong. “Her mom” = adorable. The cast in general charmed me with their cuteness and diversity, though I would have liked to get to know some of them better. Jasmine Richards’ Peggy taking the Final Jam prize = TOTAL WIN (I was actually surprised, joked it should happen, and love that song).

There were some clunky moments (um…it’s a DCOM), and some issues with construction, where things seemed awkward or abrupt (I would say the transition out of the awesome Shane-Mitchie duet left something to be desired, more than the expectedly cliffhangerish ending).

So it is nice to come away from the night energized and pleased. The coverage of the movie has been exhausting and at times frustrating. I personally think that critics are reviewing the movie both with standards not befitting a DCOM (an embarrassment on their end – this was not gonna be “Citizen Kane“) and an inability to distinguish its dissimilarity from its predecessor that is obvious to most KIDS watching.

The craziest thing to see has got to be Vulture’s uber-meta review of the reviews, echoed by Perez and now-uncloseted teen-media-lover Richard (at Gawker).

The Boys create such frenzy, even among their non-admirers, it is something else.

So…do you love it? Lump it? Have a favorite (or least so) moment? A revelation?  The Boys are asking the same question in their latest MySpace blog from Europe – go tell THEM what you think HERE!

For me, I need to watch it again to decide how I really feel – I could end up liking it a LOT more, or even less. We’ll see. But I DID find a (non-Jonas!!) summer jam on the album that somehow wasn’t even in the movie (that I noticed)…I wonder why? It’s amazing. So deliciously eighties. Maybe it will be a follow-up video? Check it out:

[Via: Houston Post Chronicle; New York Times; julisol902401(YouTube)]