zkonedog
I really didn't expect much out of the viewing experience as I settled in to watch "Bandslam". Pretty much the only reason I rented it was because of the "Vanessa Hudgens" name and the fact that I thought my younger sister and I would enjoy watching it together. Pretty faces and good music...what can go wrong, right? Unfortunately, the film fell short of even those somewhat less than lofty expectations.For a quick plot summary, the film centers on young high-schooler Will Burton (Gaelen Connell) in the midst of changing schools. Burton, a classic-rock savant of sorts, is quickly befriended/recruited by fellow student and band-leader Charlotte (Alyson Michalka) in order to use his talents to try and win the school's upcoming "Bandslam" competition. Also in the mix is Sam (Hudgens), an unemotional loner who intrigues Will.The biggest problem with this film (besides featuring some of the dumbest exposition in film history) is that, while it markets itself towards children, the subject matter (classic bands, music terminology) is by and large geared towards nostalgic 80s-teens. In this aspect, it suffers from the same problem as 2003's "The School of Rock", although that movie was able to pull through due to the crazy antics of Jack Black. Not only that, but the relationships are so contrived that even young children (like my sister) won't be suckered into them.Further bumping this film down a notch is the poor acting, on the whole. Hudgens (while very beautiful) is by no means a star thespian, while Lisa Kudrow (playing "Mom Burton") plays such an annoying character that it is almost physically uncomfortable to watch. Michalka turns in easily the best performance of the entire piece, with Connell doing a decent job as the lead. Other than that, there's nothing to get excited about.Thus, if you are considering viewing this video due to Hudgens' "High School Musical" reputation, I would recommend the following: Put it down and look elsewhere (as previously mentioned, "School of Rock" would be an excellent same-genre choice). Unless you are easily suckered into the cheesiest of plots/characters, you'll be wondering why you wasted two hours on this.
Jackson Booth-Millard
I had heard of and seen the poster for this film in the past, I knew it was a teen targeted movie with singing, I assumed it was going to be similar to High School Musical, so I watched to see what I would think. Basically Will Burton (Gaelan Connell) is a teenage outcast and a music enthusiast, he always writes to singer David Bowie with his thoughts, like a journal, although Bowie never answers. Will's mother Karen (Lisa Kudrow) has found a new job, so he has switched high schools and escaped bullying at his previous one, he soon makes with friends with a girl who writes her name as "Sa5m" (High School Musical's Vanessa Hudgens), pronounced Sam, the 5 is silent. Sa5m tells him about Bandslam, an annual music competition in which the winning band gets a recording contract, Will then meets another girl named Charlotte Barnes (Aly Michalka), she is impressed with his eclectic knowledge of music. Charlotte is a talented singer/songwriter, she is forming a band to compete against her egocentric musician ex-boyfriend Ben Wheatley (Scott Porter) in Bandslam, Will agrees to help Charlotte's band, later named I Can't Go On, I'll Go On, which includes members Bug (Charlie Saxton) and Omar (Tim Jo), also outcasts, slowly they create good music, and Will loses his "loser-status". But Will helping with the band gets in the way of helping Sa5m with a project, she teaches him how to kiss at one point, but he stands her up to go with Charlotte to a concert, Sa5m starts ignoring him, but he makes a touching documentary, with the song "Young Folks", about her for a Human Studies project as a way of apology, she forgives him. Will accidentally ruins an Ben's attempt to get Charlotte back, so Ben researches and finds out his father went to prison for killing a child while drink driving, just like his previous bullies Ben and others start calling Will "Dewey", which stands for "DWI" ("Driving While Intoxicated"). Then it gets worse when Charlotte's father dies and she quits the band, she explains that she changed her image and attitude for her father, and be nicer to outcasts, the band members find out this and are hurt, as it means she did not genuinely like them, but they go on, and Sa5m joins as the new lead singer. On the night of Bandslam, Charlotte arrives to apologise to Will, he eventually accepts, before they are due to go on stage, Ben and his band "Glory Dogs" sing the song I Can't Go On, I'll Go On were originally going to perform, forcing them to change their act at the last minute. While the band get their act together, getting the lyrics to the song "Everything I Own", Will buys some time for them going out on stage, the students chant "Dewey! Dewey! Dewey!", he initially walks off, but uses this chanting to make the phrase "Do we wanna ROCK?!", then the band shows up and excite the crowd with an upbeat ska version of "Everything I Own". Although they do not win the Bandslam competition, a YouTube video of their performance goes viral, even David Bowie sees it, he emails Will explaining that he is starting an indie music label and is interested in having the band as one of their first artists, Will is excited, and he and Sa5m are confirmed as dating. Also starring Ryan Donowho as Basher Martin and Lisa Chung as Kim Lee. Connell is convincing as the unaccepted teen, Hudgens is pretty and has a good voice, and Kudrow gets her time as the nerd's mother, the story is simple, I agree with critics there are the odd duff notes in the performances, but there is good music, a familiar but fun music-based romantic comedy. Worth watching!
Neddy Merrill
Bandslam is an almost shockingly engrossing and thoughtful movie recalling some near-classics as ?Revenge of the Nerds?, ?Say Anything?, ?Breakfast Club? and most especially ?High Fidelity.? The presence of Disney regular Alyson Michalka and Vanessa Hudgens always the marketers to frame this as ?High School Musical 4? which puts asses in the seats but short-changes what is actually a more far more substantial and less sticky sweet concoction. Also it deals with a few dark themes, their presence makes the happy ending feel earned and you?ll leave the theater elated, repeating some dialog gems and humming David Gates ?Everything I Own.? The only major shortcoming are the voices of Hudgens and Michalka who are plenty tuneful for the ballads but lack the pipes that balls out rock numbers require. However, if they weren?t in the film no one would have seen it so the compromise may be worth it.
