Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam

A recurring them throughout “Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam,” released in 2010, is how one loses their essence and identity when looking for something bigger and less successful. Ryan Cracknell said in his review, “It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy as the bubble gum sequel hardly attempts to add any sort of depth or purpose to its characters.” Instead, it looks more like a commercial for the soundtrack.

Cracknell said, “Don’t get me wrong, Camp Rock wasn’t exactly a P.T. Anderson exploration of character nuance. It was a cutesy summer film aimed at pre-teen girls with crushes on one of the brothers Jonas. Relatively harmless, it was lightly enjoyable and disposable at the same time. This time around, things are a little more snarky.” The story is not about teenage love and music put wanting votes and doing large performances that distract from dull music.

Cracknell said, “Channeling equal parts American Idol and Glee, Camp Rock 2 adds far too much glitz to the summer camp atmosphere. Camp is a place normally reserved for lake-side belly flops off rickety docks, poison ivy and slop house mashed potatoes.” This time it’s fireworks and spotlights as the competitive Camp Star locates right next to Camp Rock. Sacrificing relationships for professional material, Camp Star is a place of all work and no unstable docks. It’s a place of high expectations and surplus. Because of this expensive method, it’s threatening to actually close down the comfortable Camp Rock. The best solution they can come up with is to make a performance contest on TV. Cracknell was funny when he asked, “Where’s Simon to smack some sense into these folks?”

Even though they were past the peak in popularity, the Jonas Brothers were still more familiar than they were in the first film. It’s not a surprise when all three Jonas Brothers have taken on the starring roles instead of just Joe Jonas and small parts for his brothers. Cracknell said, “And while I do consider them much more talented than most of their other teenaged Disney peers, their mix of music and goofiness (not to mention pretty-boy hairstyles) make me think of The Monkees. Whether or not that’s good or bad depends on your view of The Monkees, I guess.”

Demi Lovato got her break starring as Mitchie in the first movie (something I didn’t know is that she was on an episode of “Barney”). Cracknell noted, “She was quirky, a little bit awkward and adorable in a Blossom sort of way. Here she’s a little too Mean Girls minus the sarcastic wit. Her character is the biggest disappointment in the film, getting shuffled aside to play the buzzkill of the Camp Rock group.”

“Camp Rock” isn’t really the huge popularity that “High School Musical” was. Cracknell noted, “Still, this second outing feelings like a bookend to a profitable era for Disney. No doubt they will reinvent themselves shortly with a new flavour of the month.” “Camp Rock 2” isn’t ending off on a high note, except for that nobody will have to deal with it any longer.

I’ll be honest, this film I surprisingly liked better than the first one. I guess the reason why is because the first one was just a pain and hurt to watch and this one is just a basic bad sequel. There wasn’t anything that really drove me to my boiling point, but I was noting everything that just made a typical sequel bad. I guess it wouldn’t hurt to watch it, especially for those who were fans of the first movie. However, for everyone else, you can just watch it once and never have to see it again.

Stay tuned later today when I review my usual Christmas film.