
A different twist on Cinderella...

WOW! Another Cinderella story!
Actually, this was refreshing in several ways. So many family and children's movies are the same theme over and over, so leave it to Disney to come up with something just different enough to catch interest but not too far out. The setting here is a little different, the key players aren't an orphan, prince and evil step-family. Yet it's still a classic good vs. evil, "prince saves the beautiful maiden" kind of tale.
The story is unique and features a lot of young talent in different areas; dancing, singing, acting, instrumental. There are several tried and true Disney faces as they tend to use the same actors over and over anyway. Instead of being hackneyed, it's sort of refreshing to see some of these pros from a different perspective. No one is a multilayered or deeply textured personality, but hey, it's a Disney tween flick!
Of course, the Jonas Brothers are a tween girl's biggest fantasy, and while they appear in the movie for several scenes, it is NOT a Jonas Brothers movie. Joe is in about 50% of the scenes and the story revolves around the teenage angst of romance between him and Demi Lovato. She's very appealing in a "girl next door" way and no doubt there's a few tween boys out there crushing on her too.
Speaking of which, this girl has some serious pipes! She has an incredibly strong voice and mounds of talent. She may be young and somewhat less experienced, but there's no doubt she'll be around for quite some time. You need to hear her personal music, not just the Disney bits. It's a little edgier and appeals to a different audience. She's quite versatile in her sound, though all of her songs are sung with a passion and strength that may carry a few of them over the top. No doubt reserve will come with experience and exposure.
Usually Disney is pretty thorough when recreating whatever situation is called for in a scene. There's always a realistic perspective, or at least as realistic as the movie calls for...whatever that may be. Talking or basketball playing dogs? Well it's as realistic as they can make it which is part of the charm and draw of the story. The one point which raises our eyebrows is the final talent show scene with "Margaret" the guitar playing solo singing act. In this case, the close ups and inclusion of guitar playing just needed to be skipped altogether. Either that or someone should have taken the time to work on the girl's strumming strategies.
Perhaps it's just because we play instruments, but even Lindsay Lohan had a realistic act in the "Freaky Friday" remake. Watching Margaret pretend to play guitar seems as if the writers threw in a prop at the last minute to help carry the scene and said, "Here. Play." No coaching, no guidance and definitely not in sync. Again, this probably won't matter to most viewers, but it's well below the usual standards of Disney.
Overall, a really good family flick, with very little (pracctically nil) adult themes or scenes that you hope your child won't "get" or create fodder for questions and/or giggles. The characters aren't especially deep, the scenery pretty simple and the story easy enough to follow. Totally appropriate for tween crushes too!
Review ID: 10000000011518809

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