Lemonade Mouth

Disney high school band movies was trending in the late 00s. This was one of them, and in my opinion, it was the best. You know the story. Some high school kids inadvertently find each other and they realize they have a great band together. There are hurdles along the way, but at the end they're a great band, and the movie also includes some great music. They enter a competition; maybe they win; maybe they lose; but at the end they realize they're great friends. And there's a romantic component thrown in there.

What I like about this movie, and it speaks to contemporary politics, is one scene with a girl in a wheelchair. They band plays at a school dance or something. I don't know. But the band is playing an awesome song, and shown are people in the crowd dancing and smiling and having a good time. A girl in a wheelchair is shown, and she is smiling and dancing as best as she can in her wheelchair. What that tells us is that first of all a kid in a wheelchair felt comfortable enough to go to the high school dance. Second of all she was having a good time.

Years ago that kid in the wheelchair may have just stayed home. But now we're all one. We're all together. Whether we're black, immigrant, handicapped, gay, whatever.. We're all going to accept you, and whoever you are you can enjoy the band, dance however you want to dance, and you're part of us and accepted in the group. That says a lot.

As many of you know, in the past years, Disney channel is known for releasing films such as "High School Musical", "Camp Rock" and the "Cheetah Girls" franchises, all of which were popular but corny in some way, especially the disastrous "Camp Rock 2". I gotta say that for a Disney Channel Movie, in my opinion Lemonade Mouth was just a sweet knockout!!!!!!!!! It's the best musical movie that Disney Channel has ever made, and I'm hooked on it. The actors in the movie did a great job, each character was given a great amount of significance, and best of all, all 5 of them are really talented not only as actors but as musicians. I'm amazed that Adam Hicks wrote his own rap lyrics for 3 songs in the movie because it allowed him to showcase his true musical talent, and even though all 5 actors were great, I feel that he and Hayley Kiyoko are the 2 strongest actors in the movie. Also the movie was great on character development, and the filmmakers didn't make 1 character feel more important than others, and it was almost completely unpredictable because I had no idea what would happen throughout this movie, though I will say that the only predictable thing about it was that after Charlie(Blake Michael) flipped the coin, it would land on heads, other than that, completely unpredictable. Even Chris Brochu's character Ray wasn't entirely annoying, but he was a jerk. The soundtrack's amazing, you'd actually want those type of songs on your Ipod, and they're genius. Finally, Lemonade Mouth actually has a strong morale, and it's the kind you can take seriously, unlike corny stupid lines like "This is our summer"!!!!! I can also praise this movie for presenting a realistic plot, and it proves that Disney finally learned from all the mistakes they've previously made with past DCOMS. PS: All 5 members of the band can sing, not just 1 person, who wouldn't want that in a band(which by the way they should be a real-life band)?!?!? Here's 1 character I didn't really talk about and that's Scott Pickett, lead guitarist of Mudslide Crush. Scott is played by Nick Roux, and while he's a nice guy, he can be a little selfish, and I don't think anyone expected him to end up joining Lemonade Mouth by the end of the movie, but it was best that he did. I will say that it was unnecessary for Mo to get jealous of Scott for simply talking to a girl named Jules, it's not like he was making out with her. Also how the mural of the band had ended up on the pizzeria billboard was never explained, so therefore it didn't make sense. Something else I should add is that there was a review saying that the music continuity was an issue, and I'd just like to say that 1st of all, that's not something to complain about, 2nd of all, of course you're still gonna hear keyboards in the background while Wen's rapping because he's not really playing, so that's not really an issue. Also during "Breakthrough", Scott had already joined the band, and he's the one who played guitar for that song so it doesn't matter if Stella's not playing guitar, but you're right about "She's So Gone", Bridgit should have been playing bass instead of a 2nd guitar, and in "Breakthrough", and Highwire, Naomi's not playing bass which is odd. Overall,This movie couldn't have been done in a better way, it deserves a sequel but I'm afraid it'll be a disaster like Camp Rock 2. Well done Disney, keep this up, your coolest musical film yet. I give it a perfect 10. Rock on, Lemonade Mouth!!!!!!!!!!!!

I found most of Disney Channel's original movies to be abysmal, cheesy messes with so-so acting and plots that could make Inspector Gadget: The Movie look like Shakespeare in comparison. But I found Lemonade Mouth to be an organic, well-acted, clever movie. It has some thought-provoking, inspiring themes that puts it aside from pretty much every other DCOM out there. The songs are catchy and pretty well-performed. And let's not forget the teen actors that all give likable, believable performances. I'm a musician in real life, and though my school has an incredibly well- funded music program, the thought of losing it still lurks and chills me to the bone. This movie suggests that music programs are important and allows us to express creativity and self-expression and that being yourself is the most important thing you could ever do... And though that seems to be the theme of many Disney Channel movies, it rings true to all of us. This is, in my humble opinion, the very best Disney Channel original movie, and I will keep watching it whenever it comes on.

I was always a true Disney kid- I grew up with Lizzie McGuire, That's So Raven, Kim Possible, etc. But it all went down-hill when Disney Channel brought in Hannah, WIzards, HSM, Camp Rock- and the rest of the corny, cheesy, to sweet and somehow everyone can sing buzz that children lap up. Lemonade Mouth is- if you pardon the pun- a sip of icy lemonade on a hot day. It's got a good moral, the music is more rock'n'roll and indie then the kiddie pop they normally generate, the actors are amazing and there are some good twists. Mendler and Hicks have incredible on-screen chemistry; flirty, innocent and cute without being all annoying. The up-and-rising Disney stars show how unlike others, they can act and sing in this romantic comedy more aimed at teenagers then eight-years. Think a sweeter, organic Glee.

Five disparate high school kids are sentenced to detention in the basement. Principal Brenigan (Christopher McDonald) uses corporate sponsorship to support only the sport teams. He relegates all the other groups into the basement. Miss Reznick (Tisha Campbell-Martin) is the music teacher who is facing funding cuts. Stella (Hayley Kiyoko) is the rebellious new girl who is the least successful of her family. Olivia (Bridgit Mendler) is the awkward loner who is hiding some devastating family secrets. Mo (Naomi Scott) is dealing with a selfish boyfriend and her conservative East Indian father. Charlie (Blake Michael) is the drummer forced to live up to his soccer star older brother. Wen (Adam Hicks) is angry that his father is moving on with a young girlfriend. The five new friends form a new band to compete in the local talent contest.

I like all five young actors and their characters. With that, the movie can survive the cheesiness and the standard tropes. The music from the five is good enough. The story is hitting all the traditional kiddie movie ideas of rebelling against the system. Christopher McDonald and Tisha Campbell-Martin fall victim to the need for adults to act wacky in kiddie movies. The young actors and their characters' journeys save this from being a bad Disney TV movie.