Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience

Strictly one for teen girls, this one. Plus, I suppose, the hardest of die-hard male Camp Rock (the film, silly!) fans. It’s a straightforward “day in the life” portrayal of three good looking brothers in a “famous” band. Between them, these young hunks provide a pre and post-pubescent girl with all she needs to grow up on and look at. There’s a curly one, a straight one and an in-between one – hair I mean, of course. The guys have all the rock moves and the stage show has huge production values. But it’s a promo film, and really that’s it in terms of substance.

Disney seems to have picked on the Jonas Brothers as a way to probe the limits of 3D cinema and shot some of the footage that way. For me, they certainly bumped up against the edge of the known 3D universe and I felt it was a wasted effort. Simply didn’t work. Cynic I am, but waving drumsticks at the 3D camera is a cheap shot and actually gives 3D a bad name. The crowd waving glow sticks didn’t work for me either – sent my eyes off in different directions. That should have been pretty I guess, but nah. There are some places it almost works but for the most part, 3D contributes little and distracts from the music which is what a concert is about... isn’t it? Better standard camera techniques and catchier tunes would be more likely to ensure box office success.

Being fair, the Jonas Brothers have worked hard to get to where they are and are more than contrived boy rockers. But they’re hardly known over here in the UK and the film is really the advance guard of publicity ahead of their November “big venue” tour.

If the boys have talent, it’s not fully developed yet and the arrival on stage of songstress Taylor Swift highlights the immaturity of their own songs. Singing true to her stature, Swift sounds musical and sweet – the song is hers and she fills the envelope, as you would if granny was Leann Rimes, I suppose. The boys struggle to do this and while marks for effort are due, they’re just not real... at least not yet.

Parental warning - daughters need to be supervised in and out of this film. The hysteria of the film audience (somewhat contrived) is infectious and my charges responded even though they were at the younger end of the target age range. I didn’t enjoy the film much – my foot tapped but it was an hour and 10 minutes I could have used for something better. Still, taking kids to this sort of thing is as much about being a Dad as a film flunky, but Hannah Montana looks good against the Jonas boys.

The usual stuff that boys do was in evidence – banter, climbing on each other, knowing smiles - but as the film drew to a close, the wind up was poor, standard “introduce the band stuff”, oh, and bringing in the large bouncer as a laugh. As for 3D in concert films, well, it just doesn’t seem to add to the enjoyment. I won’t be beating a path to the next one.