------ THIS REVIEW CONTAINS VERY MINOR SPOILERS ------
I really wanted to love this film, but I couldn't. I liked it, but still, there are too many flaws for me. I watched this knowing absolutely nothing about it. I didn't know the plot, nor the characters, nor the actors, nor anything at all. So there you go for my level of personal expectations: I had none whatsoever. As the movie progressed I got to see some familiar faces such as Tyler Posey (from Teen Wolf) and Kelly Hu (from X2) but, sadly, they didn't play the part.
The acting throughout the film is sub par. I won't say PLAIN BAD or anything like that because the actors were all so likable and you could see that they were having a good time and I can really appreciate that, but yeah, they didn't deliver it for the most part. There are, however, -- some -- amazing scenes with Joan Chen and Booboo Stewart, but the only actor who seemingly nailed all of his scenes throughout the movie was Gregg Sulkin (Randy). Pretty good job overall on his part. I was particularly impressed after learning he is a "Disney Kid". I'd keep an eye out for him in the future if I were working in the industry.
The plot has some really good messages about tolerance, friendship, love, respect and all that good stuff many people seem to forget to apply to their lives nowadays, but the pacing was off... Felt rushed in some parts and too slow on others. Some characters were also poorly written, specially Randy because of one particular scene. He seemed to be a douche in the beginning, but, off-screen, develops this amazing friendship with Nick all of a sudden and (in the aforementioned scene) lectures him about stuff that he himself doesn't seem to apply in his actions. It could've been easily avoided by giving this scene to another character such as Doug.
The editing was a little off, minor complaints here. Some more shots of transition would be nice because some cuts seem too abrupt, but overall it's decent. The direction is also decent, but very technical, which can be a con in this case.
Overall it's a pretty decent 'feel-good' type of movie. Based on that, I'd give it 5 out of 10: It's watchable and can be nice, but don't expect something new or extraordinary here. The ending though, is particularly well-done.
I really wanted to love this film, but I couldn't. I liked it, but still, there are too many flaws for me. I watched this knowing absolutely nothing about it. I didn't know the plot, nor the characters, nor the actors, nor anything at all. So there you go for my level of personal expectations: I had none whatsoever. As the movie progressed I got to see some familiar faces such as Tyler Posey (from Teen Wolf) and Kelly Hu (from X2) but, sadly, they didn't play the part.
The acting throughout the film is sub par. I won't say PLAIN BAD or anything like that because the actors were all so likable and you could see that they were having a good time and I can really appreciate that, but yeah, they didn't deliver it for the most part. There are, however, -- some -- amazing scenes with Joan Chen and Booboo Stewart, but the only actor who seemingly nailed all of his scenes throughout the movie was Gregg Sulkin (Randy). Pretty good job overall on his part. I was particularly impressed after learning he is a "Disney Kid". I'd keep an eye out for him in the future if I were working in the industry.
The plot has some really good messages about tolerance, friendship, love, respect and all that good stuff many people seem to forget to apply to their lives nowadays, but the pacing was off... Felt rushed in some parts and too slow on others. Some characters were also poorly written, specially Randy because of one particular scene. He seemed to be a douche in the beginning, but, off-screen, develops this amazing friendship with Nick all of a sudden and (in the aforementioned scene) lectures him about stuff that he himself doesn't seem to apply in his actions. It could've been easily avoided by giving this scene to another character such as Doug.
The editing was a little off, minor complaints here. Some more shots of transition would be nice because some cuts seem too abrupt, but overall it's decent. The direction is also decent, but very technical, which can be a con in this case.
Overall it's a pretty decent 'feel-good' type of movie. Based on that, I'd give it 5 out of 10: It's watchable and can be nice, but don't expect something new or extraordinary here. The ending though, is particularly well-done.