Bandslam - A Review

I was expecting this movie to be another movie like High School Musical or that disastrous Camp Rock. But it wasn't as bad. In fact it was not bad at all!


The story opened with Will(Gaelen Connell), a matured geeky teenager with a troubled past moving to New Jersey and got hooked up with local ex-celebrity Charlotte (Aly Michalka). Will was sort of forced by Charlotte to help out in some childcare art class and then forced to become her band's manager. Charlotte was actually competing against her former band, Glory Dogs in a glorified band competition called Bandslam. Will did his best and in the end the band rocked!! In this new school, Will also got closer with his classmate Sa5m(Vanessa Hudgens) and later developed into a sort of boyfriend-girlfriend relationship. Then Charlotte's father passed away and Charlotte quited the band after quarreling with Will. In the competition finale, the Glory Dogs stole Will's band's song and they won the competition. But Will's band got more popular than the Glory Dogs due to their Rock-ness in the performance.


Simple storyline. Pretty predictable. But I like the little quirky things in the movie, like the maturity the character Will showed as a teenager, Sa5m's (by the way, the "5" is silent) I-don't-care attitude, Charlotte's transformation from a plastic chic to a rocker chic, the band's progress, etc. The plot allowed plenty of spaces for the characters to develop and for the audiences to like them. Even the antagonists in the movie, Glory Dogs, had a soft and human side which audiences can relate to.


Another thing that definitely rock out in this movie is the soundtracks! Aly Michalka sang many of the songs and her voice is just beautiful! I also fell in love with Honor Society's Where Are You Now. Not to mention several rock-out songs like I Want You To Want Me and Amphetamine that totally inspired my "I want to be a rock star" spirit! However, Vanessa Hudgens' performance wasn't that good. She actually sang one part totally out of tune and they still put her in the OST album!! Anyway, still great soundtracks and great music arrangements on the covers.


Ratings : 7.5/10. A movie to watch when you have nothing else to do. And definitely recommended for those who like School of Rock or some films similar to that!