I’m still not sure I enjoyed the way the movie just took us in to a time bending twist in the finale of “Teen Beach 2.” Surely it’s more female driven and based around empowerment by reversing the previous roles, but other than that it brings about more questions than answers, and left me completely baffled. By the way the internet has sparked since the premiere of “Teen Beach 2” I’m not alone in the judgment of how the movie just completely takes us in to a completely new direction. If Mack and Brady’s relationship depended on “Wet Side Story” why didn’t anyone else’s relationships remold?
That said, “Teen Beach 2” is still a very mixed bag. I’ve seen it three times and it has its merits but its fair share of caveats, as well. It completely veers off from the original premise to deliver a time bending narrative that’s sometimes convoluted and too complicated to follow. Especially considering the first movie was so simplistic and easy to catch on to. Here, though, “Teen Beach 2” definitely has its strengths in beefing up roles that were under utilized in the original film. I’m glad we got to see more of John DeLuca’s character Butchie, as well as Chrissy Fit’s Chee Chee for sure. There’s also much more focus on Mack this time around, as she plays less the spectator, and really gets involved in to some fantastic musical numbers.
Which is a plus considering at the moment Maia Mitchell seems to be the only Disney star that can keep up with Ross Lynch’s energetic and dynamic dance skills and ace vocals. Mitchell and Lynch have a fantastic chemistry in “Teen Beach 2,” and they carry that in to two of the best numbers “Gotta Be Me,” and “That’s How We Do.” The latter of which belongs to Mitchell. “Teen Beach 2” definitely doesn’t live up to the original’s sense of creativity and simplicity, but it’s not a complete wash out despite garnering its share of major flaws in its narrative and logic. I wish we’d had more of a straight forward love story in the end, but hopefully part three can fix what this installment fell back on.
The DVD comes surprisingly bare bones, which is a shame. I assume there’s another release coming, but this DVD only garners a six minute exploration of the Dance Rehearsals and musical number rehearsals with the cast and crew. There are some interesting interviews, and glimpses at the struggles the cast went through to pull off their moves; particularly the unfortunate souls dancing in leather and blue jeans. The DVD does come with a collectible. Fans will be happy to own Lela’s friendship necklace in its full glory which is packaged with the DVD. Other than that, I wish we’d had more time to see rehearsals, perhaps some bloopers, but maybe there will be a re-release down the road.