I am not your typical audience for this movie, a 27-year old male who was barely aware of the first movie and is definitely not a fan of the Jonas Brothers (themselves or their music). However, I've been strangely addicted to Sonny With A Chance on the Disney Channel of late largely due to the presence of the immensely likable and talented Demi Lovato. So, thanks to that factor and Disney's incessant, annoying advertising for this film, I thought I would give it a shot, and to be totally fair I even downloaded and watched the first one beforehand.
Well, there are some strong positives in Camp Rock 2, I will admit, but they are canceled out by the large negatives. The plot of this film is far flimsier than in the first, for one thing. It's tired and predictable, the "twist" ending notwithstanding. So suddenly we have a rival for Camp Rock, yet they are never more than generic "villians" and egocentric stereotypes. Both Brad's nemesis and Luke Williams are not given any back-story, and don't really function at all as characters except to sneer and laugh at the camp rockers. Meaghan Martin's Tess, who was deliciously catty and given lots of fun lines to chew on in the first film, is relegated to nothingness and she defects to Camp Star and basically spends most of her scenes sniping with Luke. Thankfully those aren't many. The resolution of her "arc", such as it is, is lame and not very credible.
But then, what IS credible in this film? The relationship between Nick Jonas and Chloe Sullivan's characters is laughably awful, and I find it hard to believe that his song - funny as it is - would have the intended effect after his weird and strangely creepy behavior in the rest of the movie. Um, then again the girl isn't that with it either. The three main friends of Mitchie's from the first movie are banished to maybe ten lines TOTAL combined in this one, and as a result I stopped caring about them. Kevin Jonas is moderately entertaining as comic relief but when the highlight of your character is getting your butt glued to a log, there isn't much else to say.
Which brings us to the main attractions, Demi Lovato and Joe Jonas, and the songs themselves. Joe has good chemistry with Demi but aside from one scene (right before "Fire and Rain" when they argue), his acting is woeful and his facial expressions while singing are cringe-worthy. Demi is excellent for the most part but not up to her usual standard because her character is written into something else altogether. When she finds out the pressure that Brad will be under should Camp Rock fail to compete, she morphs into a domineering control freak and basically kills all goodwill that this movie could have possibility contained. Despite these failures of plot and character, Camp Rock 2 does deserve credit for some really good songs and choreography. Most of the dances are energetic and filmed and edited into rousing set pieces. "Brand New Day" is a good way to kick everything off, and I love "It's On" and "We Can't Back Down" as well. "Fire and Rain", aside from Joe's contorted face, is a great duet. However, most of the other songs fall flat; I didn't care for "Fire" all that much and the latter songs are all forgettable - including both Final Jam numbers and the campfire stuff at the end. The less said about the JoeBros' attempt to rock and roll, the better. Nick's song is definitely funny but less for it's intended purpose and more for the reaction it elicits. However the most egregious thing to me is that the single best song was cut out of the broadcast version! "Different Summers" is an outstanding showcase for Lovato's vocal range and yet did not air during the premiere; this is an amazing oversight by Disney.
Overall, I can't say I wasn't entertained by the movie, but it was mostly for all the wrong reasons. The paper-thin characters, idiotic plot and subplots and some strange choices by the actors made it difficult at times but the songs and choreography were worth sitting through once. Hopefully Lovato and some of the other players get something worth their talent and time, one day soon. Until then, I'll stick to watching Sonny.
Well, there are some strong positives in Camp Rock 2, I will admit, but they are canceled out by the large negatives. The plot of this film is far flimsier than in the first, for one thing. It's tired and predictable, the "twist" ending notwithstanding. So suddenly we have a rival for Camp Rock, yet they are never more than generic "villians" and egocentric stereotypes. Both Brad's nemesis and Luke Williams are not given any back-story, and don't really function at all as characters except to sneer and laugh at the camp rockers. Meaghan Martin's Tess, who was deliciously catty and given lots of fun lines to chew on in the first film, is relegated to nothingness and she defects to Camp Star and basically spends most of her scenes sniping with Luke. Thankfully those aren't many. The resolution of her "arc", such as it is, is lame and not very credible.
But then, what IS credible in this film? The relationship between Nick Jonas and Chloe Sullivan's characters is laughably awful, and I find it hard to believe that his song - funny as it is - would have the intended effect after his weird and strangely creepy behavior in the rest of the movie. Um, then again the girl isn't that with it either. The three main friends of Mitchie's from the first movie are banished to maybe ten lines TOTAL combined in this one, and as a result I stopped caring about them. Kevin Jonas is moderately entertaining as comic relief but when the highlight of your character is getting your butt glued to a log, there isn't much else to say.
Which brings us to the main attractions, Demi Lovato and Joe Jonas, and the songs themselves. Joe has good chemistry with Demi but aside from one scene (right before "Fire and Rain" when they argue), his acting is woeful and his facial expressions while singing are cringe-worthy. Demi is excellent for the most part but not up to her usual standard because her character is written into something else altogether. When she finds out the pressure that Brad will be under should Camp Rock fail to compete, she morphs into a domineering control freak and basically kills all goodwill that this movie could have possibility contained. Despite these failures of plot and character, Camp Rock 2 does deserve credit for some really good songs and choreography. Most of the dances are energetic and filmed and edited into rousing set pieces. "Brand New Day" is a good way to kick everything off, and I love "It's On" and "We Can't Back Down" as well. "Fire and Rain", aside from Joe's contorted face, is a great duet. However, most of the other songs fall flat; I didn't care for "Fire" all that much and the latter songs are all forgettable - including both Final Jam numbers and the campfire stuff at the end. The less said about the JoeBros' attempt to rock and roll, the better. Nick's song is definitely funny but less for it's intended purpose and more for the reaction it elicits. However the most egregious thing to me is that the single best song was cut out of the broadcast version! "Different Summers" is an outstanding showcase for Lovato's vocal range and yet did not air during the premiere; this is an amazing oversight by Disney.
Overall, I can't say I wasn't entertained by the movie, but it was mostly for all the wrong reasons. The paper-thin characters, idiotic plot and subplots and some strange choices by the actors made it difficult at times but the songs and choreography were worth sitting through once. Hopefully Lovato and some of the other players get something worth their talent and time, one day soon. Until then, I'll stick to watching Sonny.