I have been a Disney Channel fan for many years now and, being among its target audience, I cannot deny that I like the different Disney series and movies.
Although I like Disney, I admit that I slightly disliked Hannah Montana. Sure, the series makes me laugh like all Disney shows do, but I have never liked "Miley" or how she acts. In my eyes, her acting always seems forced, and her attitude isn’t really one I would imitate.
However, after watching the advanced screening of the highly-anticipated film "Hannah Montana: The Movie" at Gateway Mall in Cubao, I have a newfound respect not only for the show, but also for its cast and crew.
I imagined this to be somewhat similar to "High School Musical 3: Senior Year", since these two are the most recent teenybopper Disney Channel Original Movies to show in theaters. Since these are both musicals, I expected them to be similar, but I was proved wrong.
My sister and I, not very excited, arrived at Gateway for the show. My sister, despite being a 9-year-old girl, never really liked Hannah Montana but she wanted to watch the movie, and I got stuck as her chaperone. Since there were only two tickets, our parents couldn’t come.
The two of us laughed as we thought of what we could expect from the "Hannah Montana" movie - the same old formula. I watched as little girls of all ages walked through the door of the theater.
My sister and I sat on the second row. Since the event was sponsored by MYX, there was a camera man and VJ Monica, who was very nice. There was a raffle, wherein a bunch of little girls and a few older girls won, including my little sister.
After a couple more gift bags were given away, the movie started. Like I said, I never really favored "Hannah Montana" over other Disney shows, but as the movie progressed, I found myself appreciating it more.
At the start, Miley seemed to be more of a diva than she was in the series, which turned me off a little. But then I saw that this movie was about the consequences of her actions after going too far [with her primadonna attitude].
She let Hannah control all of her decisions and she believed that her pop star life ruled out her regular life, when in reality, her personal life mattered so much more.
In the movie, her publicist Vita scheduled her for a New York music awards show, but her father, Robby Ray, had other plans.
It was her grandmother’s birthday, and she was supposed to go to Crowley Corners, Tennessee for the party instead of the music awards show. Of course, Miley complained, because she wanted to keep on living her glamorous "Hannah Montana" life.
Her father then tricked her, sending her home rather than to New York, hoping she would remember why she created "Hannah" in the first place. Even though she started out hating her mini-vacation, someone helped her find joy.
Her childhood friend, Travis Brody helped her see the beauty of a simple and normal life, and how Miley is better than her pop star alter ego "Hannah" will ever be. I won’t give out any more details lest I spoil the movie.
I also bought the movie's soundtrack ahead of time, because I have this bad habit of memorizing almost all of the main songs of any musical that I am going to watch.
The songwriter tried to be deeper when writing lyrics for the movie. American country-pop singer Taylor Swift even wrote a couple of songs. Even the fourth American Idol judge, Kara DioGuardi, wrote one song. Overall, the soundtrack is fun and easy to listen to.
Disney surprised me with this movie because they dug deeper and added more meaning to the movies they make. I recommend this movie if you are looking for a sweet and happy movie to watch with your families, and one that has humbling lessons for everyone. Photos from the Official "Hannah Montana: The Movie" website.