She is befriended by Caitlyn Geller (Alyson Stoner) but she abandons her to be a follower of snooty selfish Tess (Meaghan Martin) who has a famous mother. She is overjoyed when her mother gets a discount by working in the kitchen. Mitchie Torres (Demi Lovato) is desperate to attend the prestigious Camp Rock. Maybe Camp Rock is on the sight of the old Triple R. But I really was reminded of Spin and Marty from way back in the Fifties. As to whether the Jonas Brothers are in it will depend on how long they keep their number one status as bubblegum teen stars. As The Magic Kingdom is already readying High School Musical 3, I think you could probably bet the rent money there will be a sequel here. The Jonas Brothers get to showcase their latest hit Music In My Soul.
And I wasn't expecting Shakespeare or O'Neill. Still the young folks are talented and easy to take. Nothing really outstanding here, I thought Disney's High School Musical was better. I think you can get some idea where this all is going. So poor Demi makes up some huge lie about her mother and even denies the relationship. And leading that crowd is Meaghan Jette Martin who makes Charpay of High School Musical look like Mother Teresa. Of course these are the high school years and who doesn't want to hang with the cool kids. Demi has to help in the kitchen though as part of her tuition. Then Mom who's played by the Wizards of Waverly Place mom, Marie Canals Barrera gets a job at the camp cooking for the whole gang of about 200 kids and staff. But the plot actually centers on Demi Lovato whose a talented young lady and yearns to go to Camp Rock, but the cost is prohibitive for her parents.
His uncle actually runs the camp and his real life brothers are his backup singers. Joe Jonas is actually the male lead, a young pop star with an attitude problem. The Disney Channel did this to showcase the latest bubblegum pop group the Jonas Brothers. Or if you will this is where Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens spent their summer before going back to East High and dealing with a musical show and the Wildcats basketball in High School Musical. Here the kids go if they're musically creative, sort of like a Fame summer school by the lake. Styles and times change, but Camp Rock reminded me a whole lot of Spin and Marty. Watching the new Disney Channel film Camp Rock took me back to the days when the Mickey Mouse Club offered Spin and Marty going to the Triple R ranch for the summer to do cowboy stuff. Some things just never go out of style though they might take on a different look for a different atmosphere. Overall, nothing to rave about or anything special, but not as bad as I thought it would be. Also the ending has a touch of feel good about it.
The choreography is good, repetitive perhaps in one or two areas but not too bad. I thought the soundtrack was groovy and in general quite catchy, not my sort of thing really, but even after 15 minutes I can still remember the end song. However, the performances had a lot of spirit and enthusiasm about them, with Demi Lovato sweet and pretty in the title role especially. The script also has its weak spots and clichés, and some of the characters felt shallow. Admittedly the story is very predictable, it is the sort of thing you have seen before and there is nothing special here. Yes, it was predictable and bland, but there were some enjoyable things about it. As I didn't care that much for the latter, I gave Camp Rock a shot, expecting it to be bad.
I wasn't sure what Camp Rock would be like, as I heard a lot of bad things about it, and a lot of comparing to High School Musical.