Standing Ovation

I’m 18 and rewatched this for good times sake. As I suspected, this film does not hold up well!!! Nostalgia wise, yes. But quality wise? No. The MAIN (emphasis on *main*) premise of the film is two rivalry singing groups (the wiggies and the 5 ovations) that enter a music competition with a cash prize of $1M. Plot wise is where the film is weak. There’s an unnecessary subplot of the 5 Ovations’ manager (Joey) trying to track down a man who stole money from her family. It’s a bit of an odd choice for a kids movie, and adds practically nothing to the story besides a bit of climax. Something else that doesn’t work is the message it sends to the audience. The two rivalry groups both sabotage each other and call each other names. Yes, it’s for the drama. But the way it’s done makes it seem excusable. What doesn’t make sense to me either is that the wiggies, already wealthy, have entered a music competition with a million dollar cash prize. It also doesn’t make sense that they feud with the 12-year-old 5 ovations despite being way older than them. There is also an undeniably obnoxious character named Alanna Wannabe, who makes the movie hard to get through. The acting is not great, though not horrible. There is a LOT of auto tune (I’m not talkin voice enhancing, I mean incredibly noticeable auto tune) but despite that the songs are really catchy. To end on a positive note, the song Blush is unironically catchy, and the closing number from the 5 ovations is memorable. It’s a childhood movie that I still enjoy, however I can’t say that I’d enjoy it if it was my first time watching it as an adult. I’ve also read the kid reviews of this film, and it’s unfortunate that even children have expressed their dissatisfaction with the film. Granted, it is a low budget film. However, I’ve watched other phenomenal low budget indie films, so that’s not really the most applicable excuse…

I first watched this movie when I was a child, and I loved it! I still enjoy it to this day! The songs are catchy and the main character is a very motivated and inspiring young woman. However, the older girls in the rival singing group are very rude and catty to the younger girls. There are a lot of insults thrown around like "geek, freak, nerd, idiot, and stupid". Other than that, I believe this to be a very kid-friendly movie.