Camp Rock 3, continuing the story, or writing its own?

BY LINDSEY HUGHES

Art Director

“Camp Rock 3: Summer is Back in Session”, a long-awaited (or possibly not at all) three-quel to the incredibly famous 2000s movies, came out this summer. The original stars, Demi Lovato, Jo, Nick and Kevin Jonas, returned as producers as well as having roles in the movie itself. 

Overall, while the movie wasn’t bad, to me it wasn’t nearly as impressive as its predecessors. It’s reviews are very mixed, with many older fans speaking to the fact that the new movie just doesn’t have the nostalgic, cozy, Disney feel that the old ones did. Others state that the movie does exactly what they thought it would: it provides cheesy dancing and singing, a heartwarming story that you know will end well and plenty of what we would have enjoyed during our childhoods. It is sitting at 5.1/10 stars on IMDb currently, a little over one month after release.

“This wasn’t a bad movie. The characters were likable, and the new cast did a great job in their performances. It didn’t really feel like a sequel to me, though. Sure, there are appearances by the Jonas Brothers and Demi Lovato, but other than that it feels more like a spin-off,” IMDb reviewer Kennajemericson said, giving the movie a 6/10. 

I fully agreed with this review. To me, it truly didn’t feel like the old Camp Rock movies. It could definitely be watched separately, and not much would change. This Camp Rock centers around two siblings, Sage and Desi, who are repairing a relationship that has previously been split by music. Much like the older movies, Sage makes friends quickly and finds a love interest equally as easily. 

The entire movie is set up to essentially be an audition to join Connect 3, who are missing an opening act for their tour. The Jonas Brothers' role in the movie is ultimately remembering why they used to love playing together, putting down their busy lives to pick back up their instruments and finding someone with the talent to help their opening act. It all feels very predictable. 

I would personally have loved more involvement from Mitchie, aka Lovato, as well as some tie-in with her previous love interest. Seeing that type of progression would have tied this movie into the previous ones perfectly, rather than having it feel like a stand-alone. 

Camp Rock 3 certainly got better with time, but especially towards the beginning, where all you heard were old songs and saw old dances, it certainly started off feeling cheesy and uninteresting. 

I was skeptical, but overall this movie did a decent job of keeping the Camp Rock magic alive for the new generation. As someone who adored the old movies, I was definitely happy to see them bring a new one to an entirely new audience.

The actors were impressive, with main characters Sage and Fletch giving a similar feel to what we saw from Michie and Shane in the first two movies. I also enjoyed the fact that there was very little “mean girl” energy. While yes, the movie featured a character named Madison, built after Tess Tyler from the first two movies, this mean girl was less prominent, and certainly less mean.

Sage and her brother Desi’s character arc was also an intriguing new twist that was not a thing in the first movies. Seeing the development of their relationship with all of its highs and lows was heartwarming and serves as a good image of what sibling relationships really are, full of highs and lows.

I truly would recommend Camp Rock 3: Summer is Back in Session, both to fans of the franchise and those who are completely new to it. While yes, I would say it falls last on the lineup of my personal favorite Camp Rocks, it does a good job of keeping the story alive for a new generation of fans.