Cloud 9: Desafio Final

Typical Disney movie trying to bank and promote an upcoming child star. As with all Disney stuff this is meant for the rich people out there. You have the nice clothes and settings. The movie was alright for what is it and again being a Disney movie after all. I have to say the production value appears to be above average though.

I didn't even get through the movie as every scene with Dove shows off her bright red and puffy lips. Now I find some people like this and I guess it is done to sexualize her but did we have to make it so big? If you google her and look at the photos she doesn't have the puffy lips. The problem with this is, of course, whenever she talks it appears unnatural. To me, it is gross. The close up gives me shivers. Reminds me of that one girl in the Transformers movie that had such a bad pair of puffy lips I cringed everything she was on screen.

Dove Cameron of Liv&Maddie and Luke Benward recently an interest of Bridgit Mendler on Good Luck Charlie team up for this latest Disney feature film Cloud 9. No this is not about literal heavenly heights, but it might as well be for it is an especially grueling challenge for snowboarders. In fact we see that one can't even walk up to it, one has to be airlifted before one makes the dangerous downward descent.

The story casts Cameron as the daughter of the owner of a ski resort and that gives her access to a team sponsored by winter sports business owner whose son Mike Manning is the snowboarding current star. But when the resort drops the team, Manning drops Cameron and the team does as well. Seems she's not as good as she thinks she is, but was there for politics.

Two blows to her ego really leave her down in the dumps. But fortunately there's Benward who was an up and coming snowboarder, but who wipes out on national television and that's left him lacking a bit of confidence.

This was a good one from the Magic Kingdom and it was a nice story seeing how these two wounded young people help each other out with their sport and their lives. I also commend Amy Farrington playing Benward's mother who runs a local kennel. Who'd have thought that dogs would be therapeutic?

Some nice scenes of snowboarding also highlight this Disney Channel film. Definitely one of their better products.

Meet Kayla, an accomplished snowboarder who was kicked out of her team and forced to train with Will, a former champion snowboarder who is working as a coach after a video of him became a hit on the internet and ended his career.

If all preppy had parents like that, however, the payboys badboys usually have parents like Nick's, extremely permissive, arrogant, biased and ambitious (reminded me of the Nelsinho Piquet accident fraud)... good heart that redeems itself, the former injured athlete who overcomes himself, leads a team and trusts in his talent, and in the end everyone learns a beautiful lesson in respect, forgiveness and perseverance...

The movie is a topical Disney. It just adds sport, that doesn't make the movie bad but it very predictable. You see everything coming from the beginning, if your looking for something new and different then it only meets half the requirements. Once again though the movie is very good and the snowboarding is also good.

Once again the Disney Channel has provided us with a typical story of self-discovery, laced with conflict and the formation of new friendships. In this story we meet Kayla Morgan (Dove Cameron), a pampered snowboarder whose Father owns the ski-lodge where she snowboards. Also heading the cast is Will Cloud (Luke Benward), a snowboarder turned dog groomer after a particularly memorable fall during his failed attempt at the coveted Cloud 9. When it is revealed to Kayla that she only won a place on the snowboarding team as a result of her Father owning the resort, she turns to Will to learn the Cloud 9 to prove to everyone that she truly is the best female snowboarder around.

Both Cameron and Benward delivered good performances throughout the film, though there were times when their chemistry together was not very believable. The entire cast, including Mike C. Manning (Nick Swift), Amy Farrington (Andrea Cloud) and Jeffrey Nordling (Sebastian Swift) brought this story to life in a very believable and enjoyable manner. It is a shame that Kiersey Clemons (Skye Sailor) did not have a more prominent role in the film as her acting was very enjoyable to watch. Praise must be given to the stunt coordinator Kathy Jarvis and to the stunt doubles who did an incredible job with the snowboarding scenes. My eyes were glued to the screen, anxious to see whether they would land their jumps or not, and I found myself breathing a sigh of relief when they did.

The story itself progressed at a reasonable pace despite its predictability. There never seemed to be a time where the story was lacking or where the pace of the film was too fast. Two big thumbs up to the screenwriters Don D. Scott, Justin Ware and Katie Wech for penning such a captivating film.

Utah, USA is a beautiful place and that beauty was reflected in this film. The scenery in Cloud 9 was incredible and was a perfect back-drop for a film centered on snowboarding.

The ending let this film down in as much as it was disappointing and relatively anti-climatic. The film itself was very enjoyable to watch and I found myself waiting anxiously to see what the final outcome would be, and though the film was very predictable, I found myself disappointed with how it ended.

All in all this was a very enjoyable, although predictable, Disney Channel Original Film, and is deserving of the 7/10 rating given.