As neither a’ tween-aged girl nor the possessor of one, I went into the Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour movie blissfully ignorant of the whole Hannah Montana craze—other than that it was one, of course.
After having seen the movie, however, I am still woefully uninformed of many relevant details.
As the name implies, Best of Both Worlds is a concert tour movie, almost to the purest extent of the phrase. That is to say, it is basically a filmed version of her concert and therefore basically innocuous.
To the hardcore Hannah fans, it will probably be a chance to either relive the hottest concert of last year (if you went) or a chance to experience it (if you didn’t). The movie is in 3-D, and the effects are used primarily to make you feel like you are one of the concert-goers—luckily one with a very good seat—with waving hands with glow-sticks, confetti and guitar picks all appearing to be in the theater with you. As much as I hated having to wear the awful 3-D glasses the whole time, that part will probably seem very cool to Hannah’s ardent fans.
Best of Both Worlds does include a few behind-the-scenes bits to break up the musical numbers, but sadly too few for my taste. To me it’s is a shame, because it’s the behind the scenes parts that are the best parts of concert docs because that’s where you get a glimpse of the real Miley Cyrus, her family, what its like to be her, and what its like to put together this tour (I especially loved the devoted dads racing in high heels to win tickets to the concert). But make no bones about it—this movie is all about giving Hannah fans what they want, and that’s more singing Hannah.
Basically, as an adult, this movie is just an overload of the Disney machine, and I found myself imagining boardrooms full of people going over market research about exactly which lime-green sneaker/jean jacket combo will get the maximum pop-lust response from the fans and create the biggest marketing opportunity.
In fact, if anything, the small behind-the-scenes bits there were just went to show how finely orchestrated every last second a tour like this is—her image, the moves, the lyrics, everything. And the feminist in me wants to rail against it, knowing that this is just another character constructed to get the idolization of young girls—and the dollars that go with it.
But the thing is, I also know that if I were 12, I’d be in the audience singing right along with everyone else. That’s what you do as a young girl. You like Disney. And Miley Cyrus seems like a nice enough person with a decent voice. So hell, why not?
ReelzChannel Rating: 