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Lemonade Mouth: Extended Edition
[Blu-ray]
R1 - America - Buena Vista Home Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Ethan Stevenson (16th July 2011). |
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The Film
 Like a poor man’s musically-inclined, G-rated update to John Hughes classic “The Breakfast Club” (1985), “Lemonade Mouth” opens with its cast of misunderstood misfits sitting in detention, bonding over their mutual annoyance of being locked up at school while everyone else they know enjoys freedom and fun. The downfallen group is made up of a checklist of ethnic stereotypes and high school archetypes (but not knowingly so; there’s no humor in this casting, just awful political-corrected-ness and lame development). The villain, much as it is in Hughes’ story, is the principal, played by Christopher McDonald, who is easily the best part of the film. Principal Shooter McGavin delivers bulletins from oversized TV screens like some Orwellian creation, and he rides around on a Segway, eerily threatening students as they confront him over his blatant favoritism of sports over the arts. And there might have been something redeeming in “Mouth” had McDonald and the dialogue about under-budgeting music, theatre and journalism programs actually been developed into something at all. But, alas, no; and the stupidity of the plot concerning the rowdy kid-band called Lemonade Mouth – so named after Mel’s magic basement-dwelling Lemonade machine, which looks like it dispenses (warm?) glass jars (seriously, they’re weird jar-can hybrids) of piss-colored liquid that, for some reason, make the kids suspiciously act like they’ve taken a lethal dose of Adderall – and its players is all that Disney’s latest offers. Not that I honestly expected anything else. Stella (Hayley Kiyoto), the biracial faux-punk-rock chick and obligatory vegetarian of the group (who, because the writers didn’t want to make her a repulsive full-on vegan, has no problem eating cheese pizza) should be the main character of the film. As a friendless newbie to the school, having enrolled at Mesa High months into the semester, she serves the purposes of the protagonist role to a Skywalker-ian tee. But she isn’t the lead for a reason that I can only assume boils down to a racially motivated business decision. Instead, the anglicized Olivia (Bridgit Mendler), a bland blonde-haired, blue eyed, beauty – and lead singer of Lemonade Mouth – serves that role, and suffers from a wicked case of stage fright to make her otherwise white-bread character interesting enough to command the screen for the entirety of the film. A soulless ginger named Wen (Adam Hicks) has an affinity for all things as red as his fiery hair, plays the keyboard and awesome keytar, and raps… terrible rhymes. (He also seems to own a Macbook that has a unique version of Garageband or Pro Tools installed on it, which allows his QWERTY keyboard to play multiple octaves on the fly – a hilarious impossibility as anyone with that computer/software combo, who actually knows that they’re doing, can tell you.) Rounding out the group are the classically trained Mo (Naomi Scott) and almost-too-dumb-to-function Charlie (Blake Michael) – two characters so bland and uninteresting, they make it look like the other three Mouthers were crafted by ol’ Bill Shakespeare. Mostly detained for minor acts of defiance – the Ginger kid calls a teacher stupid, while another tries to ditch class only to get caught, and so on – each member of this ragtag group just so happens to be musically gifted. When they met (many of them for the first time ever) in that detention room, the quintet come together to sing in perfectly auto-tuned harmony in such a shocking display of fantasy that one can’t help but laugh at the total absurdity. Lemonade Mouth’s songs are straight off of radio Disney (or so it seems, and I’m sure that was the intention). Their numbers lack logic, with instruments present in the mix nowhere to be seen on screen. Their lyrics are bubblegum bloat. And their stage presence is lifeless and dull. It’s a wonder that they become quite the hot commodity by the end of the film. Or, perhaps not, as even their ominous rival – another high school band with a stupid name – called Mudslide Crush comes off as stupid kids playing at being rock stars yet everyone loves them too. Lemonade Mouth has a couple of different music styles – sometimes painfully aping Lady Gaga at her worst – but their enemy just sounds like a cross between a wannabe Red Hot Chili Peppers, meet P.O.D. or something (the point is, it’s an awful combo). The music that either group makes together is – although original – horrible, Disnified, trash. The film, and the music, is an odd mix of just about everything wrongly assumed to exist in modern musicals and musical TV. Completely lacking in any sort of biting, ironic undercurrent or complexity, the songs of “Lemonade Mouth” are just about as bad as they could be. Just like the film. From the incredibly clumsy freeze-frame-to-double-flashback framing device, to the terrible acting, tepid writing, and weirdly shot cinematography (with an inept use of wide-angle lenses and scattershot execution of Dutch-angle, “Lemonade Mouth” looks like someone saw a Terry Gilliam movie and thought, “hey, that’s cool” without actually understanding the reasons why the auteur director implements those effects), almost everything about “Mouth” – as a film and as a band – is just disgustingly incompetent. Written by April Blair, adapted from a book by Mark Peter Hughes, and directed by Patricia Riggen, “Lemonade Mouth” is the miscalculated byproduct of people who should know better. Certainly the film was successful – over five and a half million viewers tuned in for its premiere; and the soundtrack sold like hotcakes – but that doesn’t mean “Lemonade Mouth” is any good. I am not the target audience for something like “Lemonade Mouth”. That’s what I had to keep telling myself as I jotted down notes while watching Disney Channel’s latest original film. Disney Channel Originals are really beyond reproach. The ratings, merchandising sales, and general success of things like the “High School Musical” franchise (2006-2008), “Hannah Montana” (2006-present), and The Jonas Brothers prove this. Everything and anything that I just wrote will mean absolutely nothing to the tweens who gobble this sort of crap up, spawning more sequels and crossover deals with each dollar spent, because it never has. And Parents only ever want to know two things about what their children watch: will my kids find it entertaining, and is there anything objectionable I should know about before making my child-pleasing purchase? The simple answers, without really getting into it, are yes and no respectively. I’d assume that the sort of kid who tunes into Disney will be positively thrilled by the bubbly, crowd-pleasing songs and cheery, lighthearted plot of “Lemonade Mouth”. And parents – despite the title, which I think is probably better fit for something that’s placed behind the curtain in the adult section at a video store – this is from Disney… of course its harmless and clean. It’s a bad movie – and I haven’t hated something this much in a long time – but… oh, who am I kidding, anyone who was going to seriously buy this stopped reading after I said piss didn’t they?
Video
The 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer is sparkling, colorful and pleasing. Detail levels are acceptable for SD, contrast is spot on, and the picture has an appropriately candy-coated layer of pop and zest. Wide shots lack the crystalline clarity of the close ups and medium-lensed material – something that could have been easily remedied by high definition, however Disney hasn’t bestowed “Lemonade Mouth” with the honor of a concurrent Blu-ray release – but overall, given the resolution limitations of the format, this disc looks pretty good.
Audio
Likewise, the English Dolby Digital 5.1 surround mix is fairly impressive. Dialogue is a tad softer than the songs and those inclined to crank the volume will probably find the mild discrepancy a bit more bothersome than I did. But, befitting a modern musical, the songs themselves get proper attention, with strong clarity, a welcomed crispness, and reasonable depth. Optional dub mixes in Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 and French Dolby Digital 5.1, and subtitles in English, Spanish and French are also available.
Extras
“Lemonade Mouth” is surprisingly sparse for something that’s being sold as a double-disc “Extended Edition”. A longer version of the film, redundant extended scene, and a sing-a-long mode are the extent of the special features. Bonus trailers for other Disney products are also included, as is a digital copy for iPods and WMV-enabled devices. All video is presented in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen unless otherwise noted. DISC ONE: The same epilogue that gives the “Extended Edition” its namesake – the band gives an interview to a fictional news show and sings an additional musical number – is available as a separate extended scene (1.78:1 widescreen, 5 minutes 31 seconds)… for some reason. A sing-a-long subtitle track, dubbed the “Rock-A-Long”, provides simple color-coded karaoke lyrics that scroll across the bottom of the screen when activated. Exciting… excruciating; it’s your choice. The DVD is Disney FastPlay enabled, launching a series of pre-menu bonus trailers before auto-playing the film and all present special features immediately after the credits, the bonus trailers include: - “The Lion King: Diamond Edition Blu-ray” (1.66:1 widescreen, 1 minute 23 seconds). - “Cars 2” (2.40:1 widescreen, 1 minute 21 seconds). - “Fox and the Hound / Fox and the Hound II: 2-Movie Blu-ray Collection” (1.33:1 & 1.78:1 widescreen, 36 seconds). - “Disney Movie Rewards” promo (1.78:1 widescreen, 20 seconds). - “Shake It Up” (1.78:1 widescreen 47 seconds). - “Phineas and Ferb: Across the 2nd Dimension” (1.33:1, 22 seconds). - “Spooky Buddies” (1.78:1 widescreen, 1 minute). - “Bambi II: Special Edition Blu-ray” (1.78:1 widescreen, 1 minute 45 seconds). - “Timon and Pumba present Disney Blu-ray 3D” promo (1.78:1 widescreen, 4 minutes 24 seconds). - “DisneyFile Digital Copy” promo (1.78:1 widescreen, 1 minute 4 seconds). DISC TWO: The digital copy – for playback on iPods and PC's – includes the same “Extended” version of “Lemonade Mouth” as found on the DVD. The single-layer DVD-5 is otherwise devoid of material leaving me to question why it was promoted in the disc count at all.
Packaging
Disney’s 2-disc “Lemonade Mouth: Extended Edition” sounds far more lavish than it really is. The 2-discs amount to plain DVD's – and the second platter simply houses a digital copy for playback on iPods and other portable media devices. The “Extended” label pertains to a slightly longer cut of the film – original TV edit not included – with an extra musical number. First pressings include an embossed slipcover.
Overall
“Lemonade Mouth’s” musical numbers are bland, its characters are annoyingly archetypal and uninteresting, and the film clearly lacks the depth of a more mature offering. The direction is odd, the acting is atrocious, and the writing is trite. Everything done here has been done before, and what little spark the film might have had is immediately extinguished by the realization that this wasn’t on FOX; its dreadfully family-friendly Disney. This DVD release is lacking in the area of special features, but looks and sounds great. Parents: your mileage will vary, although I assume kids in the appropriate demographic will eat it right up.
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