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For the past couple of decades now, our nation’s youth have been subjected to a slew of Disney’s child stars. First came the stars from the Mickey Mouse Club such as Britney, Christina, and Justin. Then, in recent years, using its Disney Channel shows, it’s been Hillary Duff of Lizzie Maquire, Shia LaBeouf of Even Stevens, and now Miley Cirus of Hannah Montana. It’s no question that, of these stars, Miley Cyrus/Hannah Montana has taken the stage (pardon the pun) as the most marketable and widely known stars of the group. It was really never apparent to me that she was this popular until I was crowded into a theater with groups of girls ranging from 6-14 at this screening. All of which were donned in varieties of purple Hannah Montana paraphernalia, so much so that I was beginning to think I accidently walked into HannahCon 2009 (hey, it could happen!). Who would have thought that an unknown teen with a pseudo famous father, could accumulate such wealth and fame in such a short time.

Hannah Montana: The Movie is exactly what you think it is. A “tween” flick mashed together with a musical of sorts. Miley Cyrus stars as Hannah Montana in the film based upon the television show on Disney. The plot line starts in much the same as the show does in that Miley Steward/Hannah Montana has been neglecting her family and friends by becoming too much of a diva as Montana. Her father Robbie Ray, played both on the show and in the movie by real life dad Billy Ray Cyrus, punishes her by whisking her back to the hills of Tennessee, where they were originally from. This is so she can get back to her usual roots of hillbillies, chickens, Rascal Flatts, Taylor Swift, and horses named Blue Jeans. During her experience Miley reconnects with her first true love, a cowboy named Travis, played by Lucas Till. The two go way back and within minutes of the storyline, link up their past romantic feelings. It wouldn’t be a children’s movie if there wasn’t some kind of diabolical plan and of course there is one in Hannah Montana. A British reporter by the name of Oswald (Peter Gunn) is out to ruin Miley’s career. The story is what you would come to expect in a Disney film, predictable lines and a very predictable ending. It does, however, set up some of the film’s more physical humor.

That being said, I was actually kind of surprised. Thanks to my 11 year old sister, I’ve managed to catch many episodes of Hannah Montana before this screening, and I wasn’t ever impressed by Miley Cyrus’ acting chops. If not for the supporting cast, the show wouldn’t have one iota of appeal to me. Her acting on the show has always been stoic, over done, and somewhat awkward. Surprisingly, in this movie, it’s actually decent. In one scene of the movie, Miley stretches her acting skills and showed that she might be more than a “flash in the pan” actress, and could be in Hollywood for a while (that could be a good or bad thing). I am not sure if it’s the script writing for this movie or what, but Miley really does show a sense of excitement and enthusiasm on screen.

As for the rest of the cast and characters, I am not completely thrilled. This is probably my biggest flaw with the movie next to the cliché plot. As I stated earlier, my favorite parts of the television show are the supporting cast of Miley’s tv brother Jackson (Jason Earles), Lilly (Miley’s real life friend, Emily Osment) and finally Oliver (Mitchell Musso). All these characters are pretty much very limited with screen time, which to me is depressing because most of them have decent comedic timing. It just seems like the script focused too much on Miley, but what can you expect from a movie titled with the star’s alter ego. I guess in my mind, these characters carry the whole Miley Stewart/Hannah Montana plotline, so why limit their interaction with the main character? The script writers missed the opportunity to have these supporting characters in a “fish out of water” scenario that would have been interesting to see.

Billy Ray Cyrus does perform a decent job fitting in as the dad who can’t get what he wants, and trades what he does for his daughter’s happiness. There are a few characters that I have left out, but for the sake of this review, they were mostly backdrops to Miley’s storyline, they weren’t ever anything more than that.

Peter Chelsom (Serendipity and Shall We Dance) did a fair job as director of this film. I was genuinely surprised by his work, in which he did give some great scenic shots of the Tennessee landscape. I did think at times, especially when Hannah Montana was on stage, that he chose angles that were incredibly annoying and often times jumpy. Maybe it was an attempt to give the viewer a feeling of being in the front row of a Hannah concert, but to be honest, it was really flat emotionally.

Overall, I must say that bringing my sister to this film made it a bit more enjoyable, and at times I tried to sit in her shoes and understand it from a little girl’s perspective. Even then, it was hard for me to get all of the way through it without feeling a little out of place in the audience. From a parent’s perspective, if you want a movie that your child will enjoy, Hannah Montana is everything and more for them. The Disney Universe of “feel good fun”. But if you are in your late teens, or an adult with no fan ties to the Hannah Montana storyline, you might get in a few laughs in, but that’s about it. You’ll walk away happy for the “tweens”, but wondering if you should have seen Disney’s Race to Witch Mountain instead.

Due to the overwhelming fan base, and the fact that this is the first actual non-concert motion picture for Hannah Montana, I think this will easily overtake the previous week’s box office winner, Fast and Furious 4, which is mostly depressing. Ugh, consecutive weeks of mediocre films making millions of dollars!

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