Bandslam

You always go with your gut feeling, right? Bandslam (2009) is one of those movies which I saw and didn't really have an opinion on, but then I saw that it was rated 80% on Rotten Tomatoes. That's like, just about as much as Avatar. Which made me feel sorta guilty, because I only rated it 60%, but while reading the critics consensus, I couldn't help but feel what they were saying was true...
Fed up with being bullied, Will Burton (Gaelan Connell) moves with his mother (Lisa Kudrow) to another town, and has no trouble fitting into his new school, thanks to super popular Charlotte (Aly Michalka). Charlotte notices that Will has an astounding knowledge of music, and decides to enlist his help to recreate her school band so they can go to 'Bandslam' and beat her ex-boyfriend. But Will has to decide between hanging out with Charlotte or msterious rebel Sa5m (Vanessa Hudgens).
Now, this film is really just an average teen watch. But surprisingly it does avoid all of the cliches, and adds something totally unique--a teenage life from a normal teenagers perspective. Also, the performances aren't so weak, with Vanessa Hudgens in top form, leaving behind High School Musical. Okay, so it won't go down in history as the greatest teen flick ever made, but it is one with substance-there I said it, it has substance-and alarming truths. Probably helped by a cameo from David Bowie.
6/10