Movie Review - Hannah Montana The Movie

Monday, April 13, 2009

Reviewed by Cody Dame

Rated G for nothing offensive in it at all.

Starring Miley Cyrus, Billy Ray Cyrus, and Margo Martindale.

Hannah Montana the Movie is an extension of the extremely popular Disney TV show. All the regular cast members make an appearance in the movie with a few extra people thrown in. The film connects Hannah Montana back to her roots by taking her back to the farm she grew up at. Soon, all kinds of things get out of control.

The film is good. I watched it with my daughter who fell asleep as it was quite late when we watched it but I was quite entertained. The flick has decent acting, some good songs, and an overall feel good attitude that is hard to not like. It's cheesy at times, it's rather silly at times, but never quite bad. The musical part of the show is refined to only 'stage' singing and not random bursts of song during places where someone in 'normal' life would never sing. It's a bit different than most musicals, but still manages to fit in a ton of songs. Miley Cyrus plays the dual role of Hannah Montana/Miley Stewart and is quite likable as a lead actress. She jumps headfirst into this movie and does a good job. Her father, played by real life father(Billy Ray Cyrus), is not quite as good. He manages to get through the flick, but barely. The rest of the cast is top notch and managed to make the transition from TV to film without any major hiccups.

With great singing, dancing, and acting, the flick jumps ahead of most G rated spectacles of crap to come out a winner. I was quite impressed with the movie after going in with low expectations. This is a great family flick and should especially appeal to young girls who are probably already a fan of the TV show. The movie's worth it - go see it.

Hannah Montana the Movie is playing at Cinema 3 in McCook - check www.fridleytheatres.com for showtimes.

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Your review is right on IMHO. While I am far from the target demographic for the film, I must say it significantly exceeded my expectations. You note that a lot of the plot devices and gags are a bit cheesy and I would take that one step further to add improbable at times. The target demographic, primarily young females, may not notice the incongruities as much but, if you can suspend your disbelief at some of the antics, the film is quite entertaining. Miley Cyrus has a genuine talent, both as a singer and an actress. Her rendition of the character of Miley Stewart/Hannah Montana was quite convincing. I was particularly impressed by her handling of the Hannah "outing" scene on-stage near the end of the film. As noted, her dad, Billy Ray, is somewhat less talented as an actor but gallantly struggles through his role. It is also obvious at times that the film is a vehicle to promote Miley as herself and, as I have read elsewhere, is a testing ground for breaking Miley free of the Hannah persona at some point; whether that occurs relatively sooner rather than later we will have to wait and see. It is a smart move on the Cyrus' part to test the waters for Miley post-Hannah but I am a bit surprised the Disney execs allowed it to be so blatent. Overall though, quite a decent family movie.

-- Posted by POTO on Fri, Apr 24, 2009, at 11:00 AM

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