User Reviews

Shot in Canada with a mostly Canadian cast, Spectacular! is Nickelodeon's effort to compete with Disney for the High School Musical market. It remains to be seen whether any of the characters come up to the iconic level that the principals of the High School Musical franchise enjoy.

Music class has certainly improved since I was in high school way back in the early part of the Sixties. Nolan Gerard Funk is a would be rock singer whose band gives him the gate and sends his career sputtering into stall. Britney Irvin likes his voice and likes him and wants him to join her jazz choir which do all kinds of choreography and glitz in their work. They're in competition and she thinks his presence could put them over.

Of course when young Funk gets several opportunities to advance his own career and get back with his old girl friend, Tammin Sursok, what choices will he make?

The only difference between this and the first High School Musical film was that Zac Efron had to choose between singing and sports, basketball to be specific. Here it's simply different musical venues, but the conflicts in the young teen mind are the same.

In producing Spectacular!, Nickolodeon will of course be accused of stealing the playbook from Disney's High School Musical which in point of fact they have. There's nothing terribly Spectacular in this film, but its nice enough and the cast is talented enough to put it across.

Now let's see if they become the icons that the High School Musical characters have become.

I sat through all 3 High School Musicals, both the Camp Rock movies,Bandslam, and Lemonade Mouth. I even sat through Mean Girls 2. It was painful, but I managed to do it. This movie, however, I had to stop watching in the middle of it. At first, the movie was stupid yet enjoyable. Niko had some amusing snarky comments. However,after the first half an hour you realize that the characters are incredibly annoying. Niko is an egotistical whiny douche bag, and Courtney is a controlling selfish bitch. The plot is predictable and the acting is painful to watch. I think I need to stop watching these awful TV movie musicals. If you want to watch a good movie musical, go to your local movie rental and pick up Grease, Cry Baby, Rent, Chicago, Rocky Horror Picture Show, or Dream Girls. Don't watch some cheap squeaky clean garbage made by a kid's network. I give it a two because I'm in a good mood.

Spectacular! has been called Nickelodeon's answer to "High School Musical", and indeed seems to be aimed at the same audience. I've been told that it resembles another Disney TV-musical "Camp Rock" as well.

Putting comparisons aside, I actually didn't hate "Spectacular!". It was a fairly well done musical with enjoyable music, some good acting and done without a Disney-sized budget. Nolan Gerard Funk plays cool, tough-acting rocker Nikko, with almost the right amount of attitude. Tammin Sursok plays spunky, energetic Courtney, who recruits Funk's character to her "show-choir", thus setting the stage for the movies (surprisingly numerous) pop-rock numbers.

Tammin Sursok is much more enjoyable to watch than blah-bland HSM actress Vannessa Hudgens. Sursok's energetic portrayal steals the show away from the good, but not 'spectacular' Nolan Gerard Funk. Funk is not unattractive, and has a very different appeal than Zac Efron, with a more rocker-ish way about him. Victoria Justice (of "Zoey 101" fame), also has a role in this movie, and does a good job of portraying the movies "villain", Tami.

The songs are not quite as catchy as the original High School Musical's were (which isn't necessarily a bad thing), but have there own appeal to them. The way that the songs are executed is more believable than HSM's were (though still unavoidably cheesy), being performance based rather than "randomly start singing about what we're thinking"-based.

Spectacular seems a little more grown up than High School Musical is, with a grungy (yet still candy-coated) feel to it that will likely be more interesting to older viewers (teenagers).

It's not for everybody, but Spectacular is a quick, enjoyable film that will likely find an audience with those who didn't care for High School Musical.

Nothing like HSM. It's a musical, but it's completely different. Show Choir, sounded really stupid before watching, but I think the point gets made, to each their own. Even better, when different tastes and talents mix together for one big Spectacular! It's a great storyline, the kind we need more of. It wasn't corny or stupid. Well, the cow costumes were "lame." I'll admit that one. One comparison though, the writer of this movie, enjoyed the final stage performance on Sister Act II. It works though. It was different enough from what's already been done, to have made it worth watching. And it would be worth it for Nickelodeon to make a Spectacular 2!

The thing with movies characterized by music and performing arts is that its essence depends largely on the relevance and the timing of its performances in relation to a particular issue in the story. Spectacular! may be underrated and under-appreciated but a deeper analysis of the film may reveal quite a degree of sense and heart in it lying behind its seeming superficiality.

The movie can be summarized through its four (4) songs strategically performed in different parts of the story.

The first song contains lines such as "I'm living my life just the way I like", "Don't tell me what I got to do, who I wanna be 'coz it's me who'll choose", "No more rules coz I just don't have the time", "I wanna go crazy and no one's gonna stop me." As it was performed, we are practically introduced to the band singer, Niko, a teenager aspiring to be a recording star who got dumped by his own band and girlfriend at the same night. Soon, however, he was recruited by a performing choir leader who has been accustomed to performing inside a 'box', so to speak, and to living strictly by the rules.

Conflicting perspective somehow made it quite a deal for Niko. Nothing natural, however, can be hidden for long. Soon, his outlook was discovered and surprisingly appreciated by the choir members. In fact, he started teaching the choir members new dance steps for a change.

Somewhere at the middle of the movie, another song was sung containing lines such as, "For the first time, I realize something I didn't see before; for the first time, looking in your eyes, suddenly, there's so much more; something, we both feel inside, for the first time". At this point, we are drawn to the idea that Niko finally and officially got hooked into the performing choir as he started introducing new Spectacular traditions. With the choir members at his back, he actually began sharing in their dream of winning and soaring to heights. He, somehow, forgot his former band and his own aspiration and became one with the new group.

The third song is the group's entry to the national competition containing lines such as, "You give me something to believe in after all we've been through; the love you gave, it all comes back to you", "… and here with you is where I'm meant to be". As in any other group endeavoring to soar, unpleasant things sometimes happen, test of character, difficult choices to be made, truth uncovered during the worst of circumstances, break ups. Good thing is that people are almost always drawn to where their heart is. Realizing that he taught the group something new to believe in and that it's heartless to just abandon and fail them after what they've been through, Niko made the most risky decision in his lifetime.

Little did Niko knew that this unselfish act would be greatly rewarded. As he soared in his newfound career, even the ones around him who lost their radiance found their way to reinvent themselves and soar with him.

The last song is the end credits song containing lines such as, "Coz everything can change when you least expect it", "Can't stop what you can't control, gotta learn how to just let go", "some things turn out much better the way it is with us". It's practically a good summary and I guess everything that happened in the story already speak for themselves…*