MMM: Bandslam (2009)

Starring

Alyson Michalka, Vanessa Hudgens, Gaelan Connell

In Brief

A high school outsider and music junkie moves to a new school overcome with Bandslam, a high school battle of the bands competition. He forms an unlikely bond with the former head cheerleader. Impressed with his musical knowledge, she makes him the manager of her band, which he quickly reshapes to compete for the glory of Bandslam.

The Beef

Lately a lot of disney and teen romp movies are leading with some awkward looking guys. I guess the idea is that it makes them easier to relate to. Michael Cera is an excellent example of what I’m talking about. Unfortunately, the guys casting Bandslam decided it wasn’t enough to find a skinny, awkward kid for their lead. No, they wanted the lead to be legitimately ugly – extra easy to relate to. To be fair, Gaelan Connell is really a pretty normal looking little geek. They put in effort to make him as ugly as possible. Just look at him in the poster up there. What the hell?

But I just wanted the little fucker to cut his hair and stop intentionally acting like a spazz for the entire movie. His ugliness actually had the reverse effect of making him difficult to relate to. He also dances like a queer bomb and is generally a goofy little fucker, and it bothered me.

The writers also fall into the same pattern of portraying teenage bullying as if it’s widely considered the ‘cool’ thing to do. They even show the entire school making fun of a kid because his dad drove drunk and was in a fatal accident. Seriously Todd Graff? You think teenagers would make fun of someone for that? What the fuck is wrong with you?

Other than that: the music is ok, but nothing special; Vanessa Hudgens is hot, but acts badly; The plot is predictable, but you knew it would be. An ok effort makes an OK movie. What a shocker.
3/5 (Ok)

Weigh In

213 lbs.