Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam - Extended Edition (Blu-ray)

Written by Pirata Hermosa

It’s only been a year since Mitchie (Demi Lovato) went to Camp Rock for the first time. Her first year was spent pretending to be someone she wasn’t. But it wasn’t until the final performance after Final Jam that she came out of her shell and let everyone see just how truly talented she was.

But now it’s a new camp season and everything is going to be great. That is until Camp Star opens across the lake and threatens to run Camp Rock out of business by stealing away all the counselors. So instead of the fun summer with her long-distance boyfriend, Shane (Joe Jonas), she ends up having to organize a group of experienced campers to become the new counselors and then come up with a musical number that will blow away Camp Rock during the Final Jam competition.

While Mitchie and Shane’s relationship flounders and leaves him puzzled wondering if he made the right decision to come off tour, the romantic aspect of the film focuses more on one of his band mates, Nate (Nick Jonas), and his wooing of Dana (Chloe Bridges), who just happens to be the daughter of the opposing camp’s owner.

It’s not a terribly complex or unique plotline, and since it’s a musical, the most important aspect is how good are the musical numbers. The biggest difference between the first film and the newest one is that it’s focusing a lot more on the singing of Mitchie, Shane, and his band. In the original one it was a camp of kids all coming up with different songs and performances in the normal course of a camp atmosphere. In other words, they actually worked on their singing and dancing. In the latest film you have a lot more of Mitchie just suddenly breaking into a song that nobody has heard yet they all seem to know the song and all the dance moves.

Even so, the songs are really good and go along perfectly with the story, the best two being “Can’t Back Down, and “It’s on.” They are both filled with lots of energy and attitude that really show off Lovato’s vocals. Another exceptional song is “Introducing Me,” which is a quirky song performed by Nate to show Dana what he is really like and what his feelings are. The songs performed by Camp Star are the weaker songs on the soundtrack. Instead of focusing on the music it’s more about image and gimmicks such as lasers and fireballs, which works well within the context of the film.

The Blu-ray combo pack contains three discs, the Blu-ray, the DVD version and a digital copy for your computer. The Blu-ray is in 1080p High Definition (1.78:1) with a 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio. The images are crisp and clear, so much so that you can see the dust on the hardwood floors and see the scratches left behind after some of the dance routines. The audio is just as good where you can actually pick out the individual singers during the group numbers and draws you in by making you feel like you are right in the middle of the action.

There are three special features on the disc: “Rock-Along” when this mode is activated words appear on the screen during the musical numbers much like a karaoke machine. “Getting to Know Camp Star’s Newest Stars” is a sit-down interview with Chloe Bridges and Matthew “Mdot” Finley that is moderated by Alyson Stoner. “Music Videos by Camp Rockers From Around the World” contains five different videos by foreign artists singing various songs from the film interspersed with clips from the movie. The oddest of the videos being the one from Germany where a gruff-looking projectionist sings the Joe Jonas part to the song “Wouldn’t Change A Thing” while he watches clips of Demi Lovato singing the other part in the film.

Along with the special features, the set also includes two new scenes, which are basically just two new musical numbers.“Different Summers” is a nice song by Lovato, but it was better left out of the original film. The entire premise is about the two camps having a showdown at Final Jam, but if this scene was left in then the two camps would have already competed and takes away from the suspense of the story. “Walking in My Shoes” is another number that fortunately was left out of the original as well because it does nothing to advance the story and is just another generic soulless performance by the Camp Star kids.

While the film isn’t going to win an Oscar, it’s family friendly and has that familiar Disney feel to it. The songs are well written and produced, and with Demi Lovato’s amazing voice on most of them it’s hard to not be drawn in. If you like Demi or the Jonas Brothers, then you’ll really going to enjoy this film. Even if you’re not a fan of any of them, the characters are so likeable that you just might find yourself becoming one.

I Heart Jonas

Written by Pirata Hermosa

The newest DVD release from the popular Disney television series JONAS starring the three Jonas brothers (Kevin, Nick and Joe) hits stores with a Valentine’s Day theme and your very own Jonas Brothers magnets. In a red box with a giant heart on it and even a name tag for gifting, it’s obvious who it’s marketed towards. And of course, all seven episodes are of the romantic nature, mostly dealing with the relationship between Joe and Stella (Chelsea Staub).

"Fashion Victim" - When Stella gets asked out by Van Dyke (Chuck Hittinger), the school’s quarterback, Joe finds himself trying to suppress his jealousy. But when he “accidentally on purpose” ruins the band’s outfits Stella picked out for them to wear when they meet the Prime Minister of England and ends up ruining her date, she decides to get even.

"Love Sick" - Stella begins to think that Joe doesn’t like her anymore when he ends up canceling on her several times in a row. To prove they are still friends, he asks her to the school basketball game and ends up getting sick. Instead of staying home so he will be able to sing on Great Morning USA the next morning, he goes to the game and makes himself even sicker. Meanwhile Macy (Nicole Anderson) tries to prove that her obsession with JONAS is over, but ends up dating a guy whom she forces to dress and act like Nick.

"Three Musketeers" - Kevin, Nick, and Joe think it’s a great idea to try out for the school play. They get the parts because of their name and ability to sell tickets. But when Joe hits the stage he finds that he has terrible stagefright and quits. His brothers are a little disappointed, but Van Dyke takes the place of the third musketeer and gets to do the love scene with Stella. Joe becomes jealous and must find a way to stop the kiss in the final scene. While the others deal with the play, Macy has her own problems. She’s lost her lucky necklace and along with that her athletic ability. To cheer her up and help her overcome her problem, Kevin loans her his lucky boot.

"Karaoke Surprise" - It’s the 15-year anniversary from when the brothers met Stella. And to celebrate this event, they plan to throw her a surprise Karaoke party. But it’s harder than they thought to keep a secret from Stella. She becomes suspicious and jealous when she keeps catching Macy and Joe sneaking around and avoiding her.

"Frantic Romantic" - After a night out at the VIP club, Joe suddenly finds pictures of him and his new girlfriend, Fiona Sky (Sara Paxton), splashed across the tabloids. The only problem is that he has no idea who she is. When she arrives at his school, he finds that she’s a B-rated horror-film actress who is selling the story to the magazines in order to forward her career. They try several ideas to get rid of her and even try to make Joe look uncool, even though everyone knows that’s impossible. Finally it’s the number one JONAS fan, Macy, to the rescue as she takes pictures of Joe and Stella linking them together romantically on her website.

"Forgetting Stella’s Birthday" - It’s not every day that Robert Lincoln Coler picks your band to interview. His reviews can make or break a band. So while the brothers spend all their time preparing for the interview, they forget something even more important. They forget Stella’s birthday. She is completely devastated that they forgot about her, and when the boys realize they messed up they try to make it up to her.

"Double Date" - Once again, Van Dyke asks Stella out on a date. Thinking how Joe might feel, she politely turns him down. When Joe realizes why she turned him down, he tells her that she should go out with Van Dyke and not to let him stand in her way. This angers her and she accepts Van Dyke’s invitation. This leaves only one option left for Joe. He shows up at the restaurant with Macy in tow and pretends to be out on a date with her. Back at the firehouse, Kevin is trying to get Nick to bake him some more of his delicious Blue Chews cookies that he has become addicted to. Nick decides to teach him a lesson and cooks hundreds of cookies sending Kevin into a massive sugar high.

The DVD has only one special feature entitled "You’ve Been Jo Bro’d! - Surprising Jordin Sparks." Much like the prank they pulled on Chelsea Staub on the first DVD, this time they pull a prank on former American Idol winner Jordin Sparks. The basic joke is that the four of them are doing a live interview with a DJ who has no idea who they are and is asking totally bizarre questions. It is more entertaining than the first joke they pulled, but just as you start to get into it, they keep breaking up the interview with the brothers explaining what is about to come. Once again their prank attempt comes off flat. They really need to dump this feature on the next release.

While I Heart Jonas is still quite entertaining and filled with the silly humor and slapstick comedy that makes the show, the constant viewing of the Joe/Stella relationship starts to get a little old. Watching them constantly pine for one another, admit that they have feelings, and then refusing to act on them becomes quite frustrating. During the original airing the episodes were spaced further apart and it had a much better flow.