TV Review: Camp Rock

Early on in my blogging career, I wanted to investigate what made Disney-related music, TV shows, and movies so insanely popular. It was one of the reasons why I decided to take my time reviewing Camp Rock, "starring" insanely popular teen sensation Jonas Brothers. I wanted to make sure I accurately criticized this TV movie.

After reading numerous reviews and watching the film live on ABC this past Saturday, I am ready to deliver my opinion of the latest DCOM.

Acting
Now, I wasn't expecting Oscar-worthy performances, but I was at least hoping for some kind of delivery that wouldn't have me rolling me eyes. Let's start with the leading male, Joe Jonas. The one thing I noticed was that his acting was really limited to scenes that didn't require a clear-cut emotion. I found myself rolling my eyes when he was playing angry in the limo or upset when he confronted Demi Lovato's character on her lies. However, things were much less awkward during the low-key scenes, like when Shane sang his song to Mitchie on the pier. He came off more natural and believable during those moments, and they were definitely more enjoyable. Demi Lovato, who played lead character Mitchie, was surprisingly good. Even though there were parts of her story that were absurd, I never once lost sympathy for her. It was probably that blinding smile, which flashed at least 200 times during the film. It's rather ironic that while her character pretended to be fake, Demi's portrayal was one of the realest of them all. The other notable was Alyson Stoner, who played Mitchie's friend Caitlyn. She played the cynical aspiring music producer very well, so well that I wondered why she didn't have the Disney package (album, TV show, her own movie). The other performances were subpar, at best (among the teen actors, anyway). Meaghan Jette Martin, who played Camp Rock bitch Tess Tyler, was pretty stale, often being upstaged by her co-stars. Her scene toward the end, when she ran backstage after messing up in front of her mother and started crying, was painfully bad. As for the other Jonases, I enjoyed Kevin's character the most, but I'm not sure whether that was the acting or the writing. Nick wasn't acting at all; his character was very serious and collected, much like his own personality. Not much of a stretch.

Writing
The movie, in my opinion, suffered immensely in this area. Whether it was the basic plot or the lines the characters spoke, the writing all seemed contrived and awkward. There were many holes and a lack of development that disrupted any enjoyment the movie could've delivered. For example, Peggy (Jasmine Richards) breaks free from the clutches of Tess and performs at Final Jam, eventually winning the whole thing. But where is her story? Why did she feel she wasn't good enough to go solo in the first place? Why did she let Tess (who really sucked) outshine her? I get the movie was focused on Mitchie, but there could've been a subplot about Peggy. Hell, it could've intertwined with the main story. It was these types of discrepancies that didn't exist in HSM that made the movie difficult to relate to if you were older than 15. It is surprising (and disappointing) that Julie Brown helped write this film, because it wasn't very smart.

Then there were the lines. I'm surprised that the actors were able to keep a straight face saying some of these things. Consider Shane's response to Mitchie saying she liked his song: "Wow, you really know how to make a guy feel better." It would've been okay if he was being sarcastic, but he was being sincere! Such an eye-rolling moment. To be fair though, there was some cool (even quite clever) writing in the film. Whoever wrote Kevin's lines deserves an award, because he was hilarious (again, either it was acting or writing, not sure which). By the middle of the movie, I wanted him to get that birdhouse!

The plot was rather formulaic (as noted in other reviews) and predictable. Mitchie, who's attending Camp Rock because her mom agreed to be a cook, lies about who she is to fit in. Her lies eventually catch up with her, just as she gets closer to bad boy popstar Shane Gray, who was sent to the camp to rehab his image. He gets inspired by a girl singing (Mitchie) to write music not typical of his band, Connect Three. He runs around the film trying to find her, never realizing that the girl he's been canoeing with or serenading on docks to was her. Anyway, things go sour when Mitchie's lies are revealed, and they get worse when Tess (the movie's Sharpay) sets her up for theft, which bans her from the Final Jam celebration. She does get to sing, and the song unites her and Shane in a really nice scene. At the end, they break in the "We're All In This Together" equivalent "We Rock". The story dripped in cheese and lacked any real substance, even with the Disney-typical "be yourself" theme. There wasn't much else to take away from the story, which was very disappointing. They could've elaborated more on the Shane wanting to expand his sound past the "stupid cookie-cutter popstar stuff" his label wants, but it stalled; another pot hole. It was if Disney was determined to make this film as uncomplicated as possible (maybe they're saving the real deepness for HSM 3?), not realizing how deeply affected the film. I'm not sure even the most die-hard JB fan would watch the film in film more than its three premieres.

SONGS
The most important part of Camp Rock was the music. There were a lot of songs, with a surprising variety of singers. First there was "Who I Will Be", song by Mitchie. I didn't real pay much attention to the song, since it was during the opening credits, plus there were more important songs she would sing. From the Jonas Brothers/Connect Three, there was "Play My Music", the song that was inspired by Mitchie's song. I can't call Disney crap on this one, it was actually pretty good. I was impressed, and when it comes to them and Disney, it takes a lot to get a positive reaction from me. it's the only song that could be released as a single unrelated to the movie. Shane's solo "Gotta Find You" will surely set JB lovers' iPods on fire for the next few months, thanks to a passionate delivery by Joe. "Too Cool", Tess' bitchy song was terrible, vocally and lyrically. Peggy's breakout song "Here I Am" was very nice, although her terrible pretend guitar playing was distracting.

Then, there was Mitchie's big song "This Is Me", which toward the end became a duet with Shane (a la Breaking Free from HSM). Demi Lovato's voice was fantastic in this song, although there were parts where I felt she was holding back. She definitely held her own against the Jonas, and their voices blended together extremely well. Yeah, the lyrics are a bit corny, but if you push that aside, it's actually a great song, best of the album.

OVERALL
With all of the hype surrounding the film, I was expecting something really good. Let's just say it fell below my expectations. Given the opportunity to make a really nice film to introduce two of Disney's rising talents (less JB, since they're already huge), they decided to pull out a predictable storyline with little substance or relevance to anything. Although some of the songs were nice and the acting was bearable, it couldn't outweigh the sher mediocrity of the movie. It's a shame really, considering how talented Demi Lovato is and how much money the Jonas Brothers have made Disney, you would think they would give them something to sink their teeth into. Oh well, considering a Camp Rock sequel is already in the works, maybe Disney will actually do it right.

Rating: 5/10