This movie fails on one very important point: It is a *terrible* movie about performing arts. While this would be very acceptable in a High School Musical movie, about a group of students at a local high school doing a high school show, it is completely out of place here in this movie. Am I supposed to believe that these students were accepted into a prestigious performing arts school in the country when most of them are distinctly mediocre at their performing talents? It's all Disneyfied and dumbed down and (I'm going to say it at the risk of sounding like a music snob) not enough "real" music. I *like* Disney channel music... but I don't like it in the middle of my attempted serious musicals. The original Fame had its failings, but at least it was, for the most part, about real performers. I miss the nobility in it. Camp was a horrible movie, but it was about people who cared passionately about performing and about musicals and knew what they were talking about. This is about performers in some alternate world, or possibly one in the all-too-near future, where the goal of performing seems to be to get a record deal or a role on a TV show. There aren't enough performance snobs in this movie.
As a result of this, the actual musical performances are nothing different than what you would see in a typical music video or Disney made-for-TV movie. The final graduation scene could have come right out of High School Musical. The only good musical scene is stolen straight from the original Fame movie - the song "Out Here On My Own" sung passionately in an empty auditorium. Now THAT is beautiful. Everything else is auto-tuned to perfection and leaves me glad I was never a part of that school.
Also, they set up about 10 characters we were supposed to know and love but ignored all but 3 of them. They really should play fair with that. 1.5 stars.
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