Friday 16 August 2013

Movie Review and Ramble: Teen Beach Movie

Heya !!!

So first review in a while i thought i lighten it up with a Movie review on something i watch fairly recently (more like just yesterday lolz) and before you guys shoot me yes its a Disney Channel Original Movie (DCOM) but hey you are never too old for Disney ... right ??? :P

WARNING ... alot of rambling ... lol

To be honest i was a bit skeptical having that the last time i watch a DCOM was like 3 years ago (my bro is still pestering me to watch lemon mouth) and  i actually wanted to pass this movie thinking my days of  getting hyped up over the DCOM are long gone over but when my retro fanatic friend (HI DEBBIE ;p) suggested this movie since it does have a retro twist, not to mention most of the magazine i read s well as some of the malls that i went to were promoting this i gave in (yah yah i gave into the hype... i guess that's what's commercial are for :P)

So watched the movie with a group of friends the other night with totally no knowledge on how the plot will be like, no ideal how the songs and music number looks or sounds as well as not having high expectation for the movie as the last few DCOM i watch back in 2010 was not the best i have watch (*cough *cough Camp Rock 2...Avalon High ... nuf said).

However ...Man i was wrong... Teen Beach Movie ... what can i say... it surprised me in all aspect that i didn't expect!
 I LOVE IT!!! I DON'T CARE ;p

So yah the some of the scene are silly and goofy, yah some of the dialogs are cheesy, and yah it was like a mash up of a new generation of High school musical teens going Back to the Future singing a clean version of Grease songs with a beach parties throned in with comedy of Glee but this is all in a good way! 


THE PLOT *NO SPOILER HERE DON'T WORRY

Anyway in case you guys don't already know the plot for Teen Beach Movie, its about two teen surfer Mack and Brady who both enjoy spending their summer surfing and hanging with Mack's grandfather. Mack however has to leave at the end of the summer to attend a prestigious boarding school as she promised her aunt, meaning leaving everything she love like surfing, her grandfather and of cause her boyfriend Brady behind. On the day of her leaving, she goes out to catch one last wave which was said to be epic but turned out to be dangerous. Brady tries to go out and safe her but both got caught in the wave and somehow got transported back in time (1962 to be exact) into Wet Side Story which happens to be Brady's favorite movie! 

Wet Side Story is a classic surf party musical about the rivalry between the bikers and the surfers and all they want is to call "Big Mama", a local hang out their "territory" (this i don't understand as non of them own "Big Mama" except Big Mama herself lol just a random "i don't get moment). Anyways, in the middle of this this one of the surfer and one of the biker girls secretly falls in love (not a good ideal :P) with each other while trying to unite their two different gangs to stop a real estate mogul from turning their favorite hangout into a resort. With this he hires a MAD scientist to build a weather machine that will blows up creating a massive storm.

Now with Brady and Mack in the picture they accidentally change the plot of the movie where in the movie the lead surfer guy Tanner and the lead biker girl Lela were superpose to fall in love with other instead Tanner falls for Mack and Lela for Brady! (not good guys although i do admit i find this both awkwardly funny and cute lol)

With this, Mack and Brady need to try to get Tanner and Lela to fall for each other and get the plot of the movie back to its original form or else be stuck in the movie and the past!


MY THOUGHTS 
(Happy Rambling Time :P)

*WARNING!!! SPOILER AHEAD!!!!

Don't read this part if you have not watch the movie and don't want to be spoiled.

Come back after you watch the movie and share your thoughts :D


The Characters ... what can i say my favorite are the lead that is Brady and Mack! I was laughing at when watching Brady going all "fanboy" fanatic and being eager to jump into the flow of the musical number that he must have watch a million times in Wet Side Story musical while Mack reluctance and awkwardness of suddenly being throned into the movie (it look like a fish out of the water lol) as well as her sarcastic "Maybe we died and gone to musical heaven" remark!


I like how they also show us signs that both Mack and Brady are stuck in the movie like their cloths suddenly changing and their swimsuit disappearing, their hair not getting wet when they fall into the water and my personal favorite which is they can't stop themselves from randomly singing and dancing (this i found very entertaining).


Also the musical number! Gosh! Alot of the musical numbers were amazing! My favorite? I have to agree with Brady that if there is one musical in the movie i'll jump in and dance along it will be "Cruising for a Bruising" where when i first watch it i swear i thought of the iconic "Grease Lightning" from Grease! Yah there is no magic car scene but the dance number were my favorite! A little side note i thought Brady was Kenickie from Grease from the way he dress with the leather jacket and all.


Also little random note, if there is a musical number that i like in a movie i'll attempt to learn and  "cover" that dance number and this have been something that i have been doing since i started watching HSM with "bop to the top" and "We're all in this together" to Camp rock 2 "Tear it down" (yah i said i didnt like the movie but i did like the music number :P) So for this movie the one that i have tried learning the "Cruising for a bruising" dance number with the chair dance and all and but i am no where near the Pro dancer standers in the movie ... but i'll get to it sooner of later :D

Speaking about random breaking into random musicals I really like how the movie break the four wall and point out that its really random and strange to spontaneously break into a music number in another song! 

In "Can't Stop Singing" i was laughing hard at Mack and Brady trying to resist from awkwardly singing and dancing! Man more musical with comedic musical numbers like this is needed in our world!
 
 

Also one more song i have to point out is "Like Me" (which by the way the song reminded me of the "Sandra Dee" pajama party moment in Grease mixed with "Tell me more") where Mack and Brady modern 2013 view on relationships and life clashes with the 1962 teen's stereotypes views.

For Mack case it was quiet a "hidden meaning" moment for me when i realize during the second time watching the movie that she was trying to prep talk the biker girls when they were talking about doing things to impress the boys (now now they were just talking about baking pie and dolled up nice :P think G ratings guys lolz) while Mack goes on with "Don’t dress for him, it’s better when you dress for you" with her modern views. Mack also prep talk to Lena about making her own decision (which was to learn how to surf) which she later follows her own advice at the end of the movie on choosing not to go to boarding school.

All i can say is that i was really surprise and at first found it odd for them put a slight theme of feminism and woman-power in the story but i am guessing in a way that they are trying to say or teach young girls is to be independent and make their own wise decision as well as not depending a boy to make you happy. Now that i think about it ... Mack is kinda an independent girl :D (and hope is finally restores for Disney to make a movie with unique morals once again lol)


BTW did anyone get the Angry bird reference when Brady was talking with one of the surfer dudes that looked like Chad from HSM (sorry mates but i forgot his name)?? lol

The romance was a bit cheesy but most of the times it was sweet. Although i did find them teasing the audience making them think that the couple will kiss but ended up not kissing (man you should have seem me shouting "oh just kiss and get the kissing suspense over with already!" lol). I felt like it was HSM again where just as they were gonna kiss they were interrupted with something. Man does those DCOM love teasing the fans when it comes to kissing scenes lolz.

Also the ending!!!! gosh the ending i find it is possible they made some of the bikers and surfers "accidentally" get sent to the present times to keep the possible open option of having a sequel! I to be honest am a bit mix feeling about them making a sequel but if they do yay

Finally movie introduce to some new faces like Garret Clayton (man he reminds me of a Ken barbie mixed up with Zac Efron), Grace Phillips, Maia Mitchell (yay an Aussie! btw my friend told me that she is in a series called Foster which i have yet to catch but will do later) and finally Ross Lynch who prior to the movie i only know him from the band R5 (love LOUD btw) cause i am a fan of  his brother Riker who plays one of the Warbler on Glee. However during my trip back home i did catch his series Austin and Ally with my brother and niece (both fans of the show) and i even played one of the episode for my friends after watching the movie the first time. Quiet a good show. will ramble about it somewhere in the future if you guys want me to :P.


Overall

This is definitely a fun fast pace movie to watch. Catchy beach party and rock & roll theme songs (i might get into more detail if i got the soundtrack ... might...) with really great music numbers that i am sure you'll be tempted to try at home (they better bring out the Dance along!).

The story was definitely a mix of a lot of elements of romance, comedy, a bit of Sci-Fi and of cause its a family friendly movie.

It not be as top as HSM or my personal favorite that is Jump In (all time fav DCOM!) but this is definitely a great new musical for the new generation of viewers.

Also those of you who want to watch the musical but is a bit skeptical/reluctant or even feel a bit "too old" for this movie, my advice is to just watch the movie for fun with an open mind as you'll be in for a surprise.

So from the view of how i ramble you'll guess that yes i did really enjoy this movie. It reminds me of all those DCOM that i grew up loving and why i went crazy for the Junior novels back in my early teens (and no i am not THAT old as i am only 19 but lets just say its been a while since i have access to all this "Original Movie")

Watch this movie if you love musicals like Grease, West Side Story, High School Musical, Camp Rock or even my personal favorite that is Glee and i promise you you'll be singing, dancing and laughing by the end of the movie :D.

Ok so that's about if i have rambled my mind out and i am getting very hungry.

If you watch the movie leave me your thoughts in the comments.

Also what's your favorite music number (mine is obviously cruising for a bruising ... which kinda remind me of  one of the chapters in uncharted 3 game... another random ramble note haha)

Till next time


~oxox rotan~

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