Summer Nostalgia: "Teen Beach Movie" outshines its predecessor "High School Musical"

source: Disney / Teen Beach Movie official site

Last Friday, Disney Channel premiered its newest Original Movie "Teen Beach Musical," starring Ross Lynch (Austin of Disney's "Austin and Ally") and Maia Mitchell (Callie of ABC Family's "The Fosters"). One of the reasons I tuned in is because adorable Maia Mitchell is one of my current girl crushes. The other reason is because summer nostalgia brings me back to hot afternoons spent watching old reruns of classic TV shows and loads of Disney Channel. You might know that I am a big "Gidget" fan, and generally a fan of surf movies, movies of the '50s and '60s, and of girl power messages. I'm not the biggest fan of musicals, but I enjoy those that are self-aware and smart. And "Teen Beach Movie" is exactly that. 

Being in my twenties, I was afraid that Disney was trying to model "Teen Beach Movie" after the success of the "High School Musical" franchise, but "Teen Beach Movie" is so much more than the first installment of HSM was. For starters, it played an extremely earnest character (Ross Lynch's Brady) off of realistic (if not cynical) McKenzie (played by Maia Mitchell), who was the voice of reason throughout the movie. Add to that some legitimately well-written music and well-choreographed dances with real strands of '60s beachiness woven throughout, and you have a legitimately good made-for-TV movie.

The movie opens up with Maia Mitchell's rendition of Hoku's "Oxygen." I think I'm one of the few people who know Hoku for more than her two big hits, "Another Dumb Blonde" and "Perfect Day." Yes, I actually bought her 2000 debut album, and it actually ranks among my favorite albums of all time. I wasn't surprised when I remembered all the words to "Oxygen."

McKenzie (Mack) is about to set off for a boarding school in the East and leave her boyfriend Brady behind when she decides to ride one last wave. Brady goes out into the sea to save Mack from an oncoming storm when they suddenly find themselves in the middle of Brady's favorite movie, "Wet Side Story," set in 1962. 

The song "Surf Crazy" really sets the tone for the movie to come: it's beachy, it's camp, it's got amazing choreography, it's colorful, and it's slightly psychedelic. 

While Brady clearly makes the most of the situation and places himself at the forefront of some of his favorite musical numbers, Mack desperately tries to think of a way to get back to 2013. The two accidentally change the course of the Surfers vs. Bikers plotline and spend the rest of the movie scheming to get things back to normal so they can get back home ... and discovering a few things about themselves along the way.

Though the story is told through the perspective of Mack and Brady, it's actually through Biker Lela (Grace Phipps) and Surfer stud Tanner (Garrett Clayton) that the movie's positive message about staying true to oneself is delivered. The casting director did a superb job with the casting of the Bikers and the Surfers, but particularly the role of Lela, who stands at a crossroads between the Biker lifestyle she's grown up with and her burgeoning interest in the Surfer lifestyle. Grace Phipps has a wonderful, rich voice that is perfect for all the sides of Lela: tough, conflicted, sweet, vulnerable. One of the movie's most touching moments occurs when Lela and Mack have a heart-to-heart and Mack delivers a post-Women's Liberation perspective of what it is to be a girl to Lela.

The movie's only flaw is the completely quirky and out-of-left field "Dr. Strangelove"-like plotline of Les Camembert and Dr. Fusion and their intentions to permanently alter the weather, thus keeping surfers off the beach and clearing the way for the hotel Camembert wants to build close to the shore. If presented in a less frenetic, modern and honestly -- stupid -- way, it may have added to the story, but it seemed so disjointed that it seemed not only to belong to a different movie, but a different era.

And being the musical that it is, "Teen Beach Movie"'s highlights rest in the colorful, cheerful (albeit cautious, thanks to Mack) and perfectly choreographed song and dance numbers. To some, "High School Musical" seemed so ridiculous because few of its story lines needed to be delivered through dance or song. But here, the singing and dancing only add to the story line, with tongue in cheek. The choreography and music are so tight and expressive, "Teen Beach Movie" just beats "High School Musical" by a long, happy mile. (Sorry Kenny Ortega.)