RageLite Review - Teen Beach Movie

Guys, we’re in the dark timeline here. COVID-19 has changed everything and film and television will likely not be the same for years to come. So, I’m flashing back to a simpler time, when I was still at University and not completely wasting my life. Let’s have a look at Teen Beach Movie

I’ll freely admit, since lockdown and the launch of Disney+ I have become obsessed with Disney Teen Musicals and comedies, yes, including High School Musical (HSMTMTS is really good, despite a shaky opener) the one I want to talk about is… Well, actually it’s Teen Beach 2, but to cover that one we must first look at the first one.

Don’t have much to say about the crew, the director, Jeffrey Horanday, had directed Geek Charming for Disney prior to this and has some experience as a choreographer if nothing recent. When it comes to talent, it seems they were banking on the stars, Maia Mitchell, who had starring roles in various TV series, and Ross Lynch, who’d shown off his singing talents playing the role of Austin in the Disney Sitcom Austin and Ally, this show has become something of an obsession of mine, and I’ll be talking about that show soon.

And it worked, joining Descendants and High School Musical as the Disney Channel’s most popular films. Let’s take a look and work out why?

Brady and Mack are boyfriend and girlfriend surfers who are enjoying life at the Beach, Mack also enjoys a musical called Wet Side Story (get it?) which seems to be a cross between Romeo and Juliet, Grease, with an entertaining Disney villain thrown in because why not? Mack doesn’t like it, because they ‘sing for no reason’ (it’s a musical – what do you expect?), people don’t get wet properly and because it displays attitudes from the 1960's, because it was made in the 1960's.

She also has a dead mother because it’s Disney, and her aunt is planning to move her to a posh boarding school tomorrow, effectively ending her relationship with Mack. She is willing to go along with it because of a fundamental misunderstanding of something her mother wrote to her. Wanting to surf one last time, she goes out the next morning, with 40ft waves forecast.

Brady takes notice of the oncoming storm and heads out to rescue her, which he does because we see her fall off. Somehow this sequence of events transports them into the world of Wet Side Story, don’t ask me how, it’s just something that happens. Can they find a way to escape, and what happens when their presence begins to influence the movie’s plot?

OK, the first thing I should comment on, given that this is a musical is the musical numbers. When it comes to Disney musicals, of the ones I’ve seen Descendants 2 holds the record with 4 memorable musical numbers. Not to say that any of the others are bad, just there are 4 that stick in my mind. This film has 2 songs that stick around to me.

“Like me” is a song comparing the attitudes of the 1960's compared to today when it comes to courting the other sex. I don’t what it is with this song, but Brady comes across maybe a little too cocky, despite my enjoyment of the song. Maybe it’s the body language, maybe it’s the direction, maybe Ross Lynch just slipped a little too much into Austin Moon with his performance, who is a more self-confident performer, I don’t know, it just struck me as a bit odd. That said, the song is entertaining, simple and memorable.

“I can’t stop singing” highlights a lot of the strengths of this all at once. One of the bigger intrigues of the film is it’s a bit more self-aware than your average musical, actively making fun of some of the major tropes, like impromptu musical numbers. It’s kinda funny watching them perform a song that you can tell by their body language neither want to perform. The lyrics are catchy and it’s got a decent tune to it, helped by some decent singing by the leads.

Cruisin' for a Bruisin' is surely intended to be on this list but it hasn’t stuck in my mind yet, I may change my mind before this review is out.

Only Mack has any real character arc in this story, which is a bit of a shame but this story is quite busy so it’s understandable. It does feel very familiar, I swear High School Musical 3 had the same story. It’s executed very differently but the choice between the person that she loves and her future is a fairly staple plot for a coming of age Disney film, and also a sitcom.

The arc comes in the form of an interesting conflict, they unintentionally alter the moment in the movie where Tanner (Garret Clayton) and Lela (Grace Phillips) fall in the love and become the objects of their respective affections. I get Brady being too much of a nice guy and fan boy to outright state that he isn’t interested, but I don’t get why Mack wouldn’t.

Anyway, to try and break themselves off of them to come together they end up hanging out with them, and Mack ends up trying to convince Lela to follow her heart, and realises she’s not doing the same. Credit where it’s due it’s a unique dynamic, and Tanner is just inherently funnily with every line he speaks. He’s quiet self-aggrandising makes for some of the funniest parts of the movie.

OK, that’s the music and the characters, the choreography is excellent as you might expect from a Disney product, let’s move onto the story. The addition of Les Camembert and Dr Fusion feels very at odds with the rest of the film, they’re over-the-top but in a very different way and they plan to, well, pave paradise to put up a parking lot.

It leads to one of the messiest third acts I’ve seen in a while, where people begin to suddenly remember things they don’t know, it could be the film getting back on track after having been derailed but how did Tanner and Lela about Mack and Brady being held captive? Mack’s realisation comes suddenly here too.

The other problem with the ending is how they have their cake and eat it when it comes to the self-referential humour. Mack makes fun of Wet Side Story for having impromptu musical number but the ending has an impromptu musical number in what’s supposed to be an analogue to the real world with no real explanation, this is a huge problem in the sequel, which we’ll get to soon.

Teen Beach Movie succeeds in making a fun film to make you smile and not drawing on all the Teen Movie Tropes, High School barely making an appearance for example. The premise opens up for a lot of good humour and energetic song and dance numbers, servicing a mediocre story-line in some ways by design.

Rating 65/100