"JUMP IN!"
DVD Review
by Kevin Carr
| MOVIE: *** (out of 5 stars)
DVD EXPERIENCE: **1/2 (out of 5 stars) STARRING Corbin Bleu as IZZY DANIELS Keke Palmer as MARY David Reivers as KENNTH DANIELS Shanica Knowles as SHAUNA KEATON Kaivan Greene as KEISHA RAY Kylee Russell as KARIN DANIELS Rated TV-G Studio: Disney Directed by: Paul Hoen Back to DVD Review Home |  |
You’ve gotta hand it to the Disney Channel. They sure know how to inspire their audience. If you follow the success of recent Disney Channel Original Movies, you’ll see the art of commercialism performed flawlessly.
Some might think this is a criticism, but it’s not. There’s nothing wrong with commercialism. Sure, Disney gets a cut of every DVD sold and a piece of the franchise fee for cable systems airing these Disney Channel Original Movies, but this is nothing different from an art-house movie taking a distribution fee. It’s just that Disney does it best.
God, I wish I owned historic stock in that company.
The Disney Channel Original Movie (DCOM) blitz began with “The Cheetah Girls.” Starring the odious Raven, this film broke cable records with the biggest audience of its day. Soon, this was shattered by “High School Musical,” whose numbers were again shattered by “The Cheetah Girls 2.”
When “High School Musical” star Corbin Bleu jumped into a new movie about a street kid joining a Double-Dutch team, it broke records again.
“Jump In!” is unique among these recent DCOM phenomena because it’s not a typical movie aimed exclusively at the teenage girl market. Both “Cheetah Girls” flicks were set right into a demographic, and “High School Musical” featured a very female-centric love story.
However, “Jump In!” opened up the DCOM market a bit. It featured a male as the main character, and while he’s a good looking kid and appealing to the girls, the movie still deals with some issues that cater to boys. The biggest issue that Izzy Daniels (Bleu’s character) faces is staying cool and masculine while giving up boxing to do a sport that’s traditionally belonged to girls.
There’s a bit of hand-wringing about this issue with Izzy and his father (played by Bleu’s own father, David Reivers). However, it’s not dwelt upon ad nauseum. More pressing in terms of male-centric storylines is Izzy’s struggles with a bully at school.
Like other DCOM products, “Jump In!” is a nice movie. While there’s a bully at school, the issues are dealt with using kids’ gloves – or kids’ jump ropes, at least. There’s no real threat to Izzy, which is what makes films like “Jump In!” a safe bet for families. Even now in the theatres, the PG standards are being pushed, and often the PG-13 kids’ stories aren’t as appropriate for pre-teens as you might hope. (But then again, that’s why the 13 is in the PG-13 rating, isn’t it?)
“Jump In!” includes a handful of special features, including an instructional video on how to learn the Double-Dutch moves. There’s also a behind-the-scenes featurette as well as a music video with the female lead, Keke Palmer.
The DCOM films continue to do well because they have an ever-widening demographic, and they’re about the most wholesome thing you’ll see out there involving teenagers. Parents can be safe turning on The Disney Channel without too much supervision, and it offers a great way to keep kids interested in television once the Playhouse Disney days are over.
Specifications: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. Fullscreen (1.33:1). English language subtitles for the hearing impaired.
