Movie Review: “Hannah Montana: The Movie”
Friday, April 10, 2009 at 6:30PM | By Franck Tabouring 
Seen on: April 10, 2009
The players: Director: Peter Chelsom, Writer: Daniel Berendsen, Cast: Miley Cyrus, Billy Ray Cyrus, Emily Osment, Jason Earles
Facts of interest: Peter Chelsom directed "Shall We Dance" and "Serendipity."
The plot: Miley Cyrus takes a trip to her hometown in Tennessee after her alter ego Hannah Montana literally takes over her life and causes her to rethink what's most important in her life.
Our quick thoughts: Miley Stewart (Miley Cyrus) always had the best of both worlds, but in “Hannah Montana: The Movie,” Peter Chelsom’s big-screen adaptation of Walt Disney’s ultra-popular television series, she suddenly faces an enormous decision that could make her life even more chaotic than it already is.
Fed up with watching his daughter’s alter ego literally taking over her life, Miley’s devoted father Robby Ray (Billy Ray Cyrus) decides to intervene by taking her on a trip to her hometown of Crowley Corners, Tenn., where the energetic teen makes new discoveries and finally gets to reexamine her hectic double life as a pop star.
Writing about this movie proves to be a challenging task because I’ve never watched a full “Hannah Montana” episode and I’m definitely not part of this film’s target audience, but I’ll give it a shot anyway. First and foremost, I think it’s safe to say the young viewers who adore the TV show will have no trouble enjoying this movie, and that’s definitely a good sign.
The screening I attended this morning was packed with kids who really seemed to have a blast watching Hannah Montana rock the big screen, and I guess that’s what it is all about, eventually. “Hannah Montana: The Movie” is a film strictly for the loyal fans, and I assume most of them won’t go home disappointed. Good for them.
Okay, now that we’ve established that, here’s my personal opinion: there’s a lot I didn’t like about this movie, but I also admit I didn’t hate it as much as I thought I would. The central story line obviously lacks depth and the characters couldn’t be thinner or sillier, but despite these flaws, Hannah’s soul-searching in Tennessee isn’t really as boring as I expected.
The film’s plot is predictable and repetitive, of course, and surprises are pretty scarce. When Miley is not on stage singing one of her moderately meaningful songs (and she does that a lot), she’s either flirting with a down-to-earth cowboy or discovering the advantages of life in a quiet, rural community. It’s all pretty sappy and harmless, but hardly touching.
Peter Chelsom’s direction, however, really surprised me, and his ability to orchestrate a series of visually pleasing and fast-paced scenes eventually gives the film a significant boost. Most of the acting worked for me as well, with the talented Miley Cyrus delivering an overall refreshing performance.
Freaky quote: “I never expected to love it here so much." – Miley Cyrus
The final word: Like I said before, this one’s for the kids who love Hannah Montana, and as long as they have a great time watching their idol singing, crying and goofing around on the big screen, I’m happy.
Article by Franck Tabouring
Reader Comments (6)
Thank you for this! I've been meaning to take my little sister to this for ages, and, I'll be honest-- she love Hannah Montana, doesn't like the show, and I know she won't know anything about the going-ons of the movie. The movie trip is ultimately for me, mainly because I kind of want to go to it. Really badly. I'll confess, I don't like Miley Cyrus. I don't watch Hannah Montana. I don't approve of Miley's popstar attitude and her (well, maybe not entirely hers) exploitation fo younger audiences.
I do want to see this movie.
Why? 'Cause it looks friendly. Something I haven't seen from a movie in a long, long time. Even the new Disney movies lack in some form of it-- they're concentrating so much on plotline, they're forgetting what their original appeal was about. Sure, sure, Miley's acting could get better, but it could also get worse. And, again, I'll face it; I'm sixteen. But, if it helps at all, my favourite movies are 'Shakespeare in Love', 'Gattaca' and 'Amelie'.
Anyways, I'm really glad that someone's looking at it from the neutral point of view and not bashing it right when they see it. Stupid TV-to-movies have been made before... I don't want to say 'X-Files'. I really don't. I'll say 'Mission: Impossible', instead.
Great movie for kids, the blue security golf cart that Miley uses in the movie has been donated to "Fiesta of the Spanish Horse" and is beening raffled off May 2, 2009 with proceeds going to cancer research. Go to www.fiestaspanishhorse.org to see the golf cart and to get your tickets
Okay, so at 38 years old, I'm probably not what you would consider your "target audience" for this film, but having a 4 year old, the Disney Channel is constantly on at my house. I realy like Hanah Montana and the television series, so I couldnt wait to see this movie. I had so much fun watching this. Yeah, it's not real deep, but the father-daughter relationship between Miley and BIlly Ray Cyrus is refreshing to see. But for any of you 30 somethings out there....... YOU WILL ENJOY THE FIGHT SCENE BETWEEN MILEY AND TYRA BANKS. IT IS HILARIOUS! I also felt like getting up and dancing along to the ho-down song. It realy was one of those feel good movies that brought me right back to my teeny-bopper days.
So im 17 and i think that this movie is SO BOMB!
and we all know this was ment for little girls.
But honestly even if your a hannah montana hater...this movie the plot and theme and everything
is just amazing.
I forced my friend to go with me to see it.
and she does not like hannah montana AT ALL.
but she loved the movie.
I highly recommend seeing it =)
This movie is complete crap. Its boring and boring. No comedy no emotion just nothin.
Did the reviewer wrote that a fan of the show would have no problem to enjoy this movie?? Honestly, is he insane?? I used to be a big fan of Hannah Montana, but the movie changed it all I was highly dissapointed by the movie, who was a lot worse than I thought! The songs were awful (especially the crappy "The Climb", who has gotten a lot more praise than it deserves) and the movie was very sappy.
This is another example how Disney only thinks about franchise and money and doesn't care if they destroys their own product! Now they're planning another movie of a good series; "Wizards of Waverly Place"!
If there's a time where I wanted a time machine, now it would be the time; I would have gone straightly up to Disney and trying to talk to them from making this movie (. Thankyou so much, stupid Disney, for destroying my affection for "Hannah" and making me disliking the whole Hannah consept by making your stupid movie!