Bandslam

Movie Review: Bandslam

Because my friend Paul is BFF with Walden Media, he got free tickets for the movie Bandslam before it came out. He took a few of us, and I expected the worst. Kids movie based at high school with music and ? I thought it was going to be High School Musical all over again. I was pleasantly surprised.

The story centers around Will, an outcast with a ton of musical knowledge, who moves to New Jersey and suddenly falls in with an equally outcast girl named Sa5m (5 is silent) and an ex cheerleader named Charolette starting her own band. He quickly becomes Charolette's manager and friend. So Will helps her build up her band with fellow outcasts for "Bandslam", a regional battle of the bands. All while pursuing the affections of Sa5m.

Its sort of hard to define the film, as its a musical, drama, comedy, and romance (romusical dramedy?). It was a good blend of each and the movie was better for it, as it didn't try to force moments on you. Yeah, there were some cheesy moments, but what movie doesn't? The acting was pretty solid and Lisa Kudrow (of Friends) was absolutely brilliant. Very surprisingly, Vanessa Hudgens was a good actress. I hated her in High School Musical, but she was used sparingly, just enough that it didn't become the Vanessa show. Her character was pretty interesting, and wasn't forced into situations she wasn't called for.

Plus, there was some good music during the movie. The battle of the band scene was really cool, with some pretty talented people contributing. Overall it was pretty fun movie, a rare gem in the crap that is the teenage movie genre. Bandslam comes out August 14th. Go see it.

-Authors Rating-
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8/10