In the last five years, The Disney Channel has exploded in popularity. That network has churned out more stars recently than ever before. Not just television and movie stars, but pop stars as well. From Miley Cyrus to the Jonas Brothers to everyone from High School Musical, and now to Demi Lovato and Selena Gomez, music, television, movies, and Disney go hand-in-hand-in-hand. Disney is always looking to create the next big money-making franchise. Its latest attempt is the 120th Disney Channel Original Movie, Starstruck. Sterling Knight and Danielle Campbell, come on down, because it’s YOUR turn to step up into the Disney spotlight!
Starstruck tells the story of Jessica Olson (Danielle Campbell) and her older sister Sara (Maggie Castle), who are heading to Hollywood from Kalamazoo, Michigan, on a family trip to visit their grandmother. Sara is obsessed with pop star Christopher Wilde (Sterling Knight) and hopes to track him down while in California, but Jessica could care less about the stuck-up star and would rather go sightseeing. When the sisters arrive in Los Angeles. Sara takes Jessica on a hunt to find Christopher, but it is Jessica who bumps into Christopher. Unfortunately for her, thanks to the relentless paparazzi, Jessica and Christopher are forced to spend some time together. Along the way, Jessica gets to know the real Christopher and soon their friendship grows. But ultimately Christopher must decide whether it’s more important being himself or becoming a movie star.
This latest Disney Channel original movie is a lot like a variety of things Disney. First, the story is a modern-day version of Cinderella. You have a normal girl falling in love with handsome music superstar. This plotline is surely to delight tween and teenage girls everywhere, who think real-life pop superstars will actually fall in love with them too. But for older viewers who have seen every other romantic comedy out there, this story is predictable from start to finish. The only twist could be which sister does the pop superstar end up with? Then again, this is an important lesson for young girls to learn. No celebrity wants to be with a superfan. They just want to be treated like everyone else. There are also some good messages about honesty and being yourself thrown in here as well.
The heart of this film is the music. The two-disc extended DVD set even comes with the soundtrack from this movie. But honestly the music is fairly generic and unmemorable. If you liked the music from any of the High School Musical films, you will certainly enjoy all of the songs here. None of the songs are as catchy as some of the ones from High School Musical, though. It doesn’t help that everyone seems to be lip-synching. After a few sessions using the MusicGrotto singing guide, it becomes hard to believe that Sterling Knight and the other stars of the film are actually singing these songs. Perhaps that is why there is a lot of electronic enhancement going on here.
This film is also hurt by the acting. It’s clear that Disney wants Sterling Knight to be the next Zac Efron. They might even want Danielle Campbell to be the next Vanessa Hudgens or Demi Lovato. But as far as I know, she doesn’t sing. Although, you can almost guarantee that she is taking singing lessons. As a couple, though, Knight and Campbell don’t have a lot of chemistry together. This is mainly due to the fact that Knight is 20 in real life and Campbell is only 14. Their romance just feels forced with little believability. Campbell has the potential to be a breakthrough star, but she needs many more years under her belt to even think about becoming the next big Disney starlet. As for Knight, the girls will no doubt love his good looks and charm. They should be enough for them to overlook his limited acting skills.
Despite what Disney will want you to believe, Starstruck is not the most watched Disney Channel Original Movie to date. But outside of the existing Disney franchises (High School Musical, Hannah Montana, Camp Rock, Wizards of Waverly Place, etc.), this one was one of the most-watched. That doesn’t mean that this film is anything but average. Starstruck is like any other romantic comedy out there. It follows that formula to the letter. The acting and music don’t even help the story either. So if you are not a girl between the ages of 6 and 16, you will want to skip this film. It’s not horrible, but it’s nothing you haven’t seen before. All of that being said, this movie was meant to be watched by girls between the age of 6 and 16. They will surely love it, and maybe even want a sequel to it. But as it is Starstruck doesn’t appear to have as big of a fanbase with enough going for it to become the next BIG Disney franchise.
The video is presented in anamorphic widescreen color at the 1.75:1 ratio. This transfer is great and about on par with other new Disney releases these days. Colors look bright and there are vivid details everywhere. No major or minor problems here.
The audio is available in English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround sound. There are subtitles available in English, Spanish, and French as well. The dialogue and music come out loud and clear. No major problems here either.
“Rock Along with the Movie” Feature –
This is your standard karaoke version of the movie. You can watch the film this way and have big subtitles with the words to all the songs displayed, so you can sing along to them.
Music Videos –
There are three music videos from three songs from this film. Each run a couple of minutes. The videos include “Starstruck” by Sterling Knight, “Something About the Sunshine” by Anna Margaret, and “Party Up” by Brandon Mychal Smith, who plays Christopher’s best friend “Stubby” in the film.
Soundtrack CD –
This is the bonus disc packaged in the “extended two-disc” version of this film. It is 38 minutes long and features the following songs:
1. “StarStruck” – Christopher Wilde
2. “Shades” – Christopher Wilde
3. “Hero” – Christopher Wilde & Stubby
4. “Something About the Sunshine (Duet)” – Christopher Wilde & Anna Margaret
5. “What You Mean to Me” – Christopher Wilde
6. “Party Up” – Stubby
7. “Got to Believe (Bonus Track)” – Christopher Wilde
8. “Hero (Unplugged)” – Christopher Wilde
9. “Something About the Sunshine (Solo)” – Anna Margaret
10. “New Boyfriend” – Anna Margaret
11. “Welcome to Hollywood” – Mitchel Musso
12. “Make a Movie” – Jasmine Sagginario
If you are a girl between the ages of 6 and 16, you will especially love Starstruck. Nothing here is original, though, so you don’t go out of your way seeing this if you are not in that demographic. If you are fan of the film, you might as well buy the two-disc version with the soundtrack of the film included at a steep discount.
