I enjoyed it! A positive review?
I'm an original Jem fan. I have a VHS with me at 4 years old dancing and singing to a Jem song (ughhhh.. LOL) I have other VHSs with taped episodes from SATELLITE. I was like everyone else when I first saw the trailer, a little let down (or A LOT let down like some of you.... most?). But over time, I was able to think about this film and saw how the movie makers wanted to update Jem and bring it to life in modern day. Yes, they COULD have made it set in the 1980s, but todays younger audience just wouldn't "get" it, thus solely making this movie for 30-40 something year olds, and that just COULD NOT work for a big motion picture. Jem and the Holograms isn't for the 30-40 year old demographic whether you want to believe it or not. Todays younger audience is all about social media, youtube and twitter, facebook and snapchat, selfies and the online world. And expressing yourself on social media and how you portray yourself is something todays younger demographic is "all about".
The movie changes a lot, but keeps a lot as well. I think making Eric Raymond a female is an okay choice. Rio being her son an okay choice. Rio knowing the true identity of Jem a fine choice (otherwise he would come off as a complete idiot!), even Synergy being what she is, a fine choice! I just wish Synergy would have had something more to do with the Holograms becoming real holograms and possibly even having a humanized version hologram of herself projected from her robot self. Back in the 80's a "computer that could produce holograms!" would have been a MASSIVE computer. Things are a bit different in 2015, and tiny little electronic equipments, like the size of a cell phone, can do incredible things. I also wish the holograms would have still been projected onto the girls, from Jems earrings. I think all of this would have been believable.
I think each girl played their parts respectfully. It was nice to see Aja as the techie. She has this rebel sense to her. Awesome that they kept Shana as a hopeful fashion designer. The actually gave Kimber some similar backbone to what her character in the cartoon had. And most of all, I loved Jem in this film. She was beautiful and on point. That's JEM I'm talking about. Jerrica on the other hand, I believe, had the perfect normal next door neighbor girl alter persona. If Jerrica had also looked like this beautiful mega star, then it would have been too easy to recognize her. Some of Jem's make-up and hair was PERFECT. I truly saw Jem in those final scenes of the film, especially when she is speaking to Synergy. She just really looked and acted the part.
The music. I loved it. I've always wanted to hear a MODERN Jem, who could be on todays radio. Aubrey pulled it off with her vocals. The few actual Jem songs in the movie, have heart, meaning, and the vocals are beautiful! Obviously I can't stop talking about the vocals. And OBVIOUSLY, everyone wanted Britta back in the chair, but the girl isn't seventeen years old anymore people. We don't want to see Jem on the movie screen singing some pre-recorded, not her own, vocals sung by the original, who doesn't sound like the seventeen year old she once was. They found a beautiful young actress who has the vocal chops to back herself up. I loved that her first acoustic performance was sung live on screen, and she didn't lip sync to a track. Girl can sing.
Back to Synergy. I was PLEASANTLY surprised to see that they had to go and do a scavenger type hunt for clues to complete her. Jem and the Holograms in the original had to go and find Synergy by following clues as well. I loved how the pier clue included the musical note pipes coming out of the pier, resembling the original Synergy, who looked almost similar to a Piano Organ. It almost looked as if the original Synergy could have been sitting there on the pier. When Jem puts her earrings in Synergy and the first hologram is projected, it was magical. I was like "That's no video projection, that's a hologram!" (Again, I wish actual HOLOGRAMS were incorporated more)
Finally, The Misfits. It set it up perfectly. Erica needs to do something to fight her son Rio, and Jem and the Holograms. Little did we know that The Misfits were once already signed to Starlight. They all looked great, and including Jetta was a great idea!
The sequel could have been Jem and the Holograms VS The Misfits, putting both bands in an epic battle of the bands for a higher power of taking control of Starlight Enterprises. We could have seen more original characters, more HOLOGRAMS, the Rockin Roadster, Raya joining the Holograms, Jem getting a mansion and calling it Starlight House, where Aunt Bailey would come and help take care of other foster girls, otherwise known as the Starlight Girls. ETC.
This film was clearly (almost like) a prequel. And that's okay. I think they did a great job with it. They re-introduced Jem to todays younger audience. Or they wanted to.... I thought for sure they would easily exceed their budget of $5 million, green lighting the sequel that would have been a greater experience for fans of the original. I'm not so sure now what is to become of this new Jem. That sequel would have been nice. I want it to happen, but with each passing day, it's looking more and more less likely.
I wish more fans of the original would have gone into this with an open mind, instead of just jumping to conclusions and spewing hatred and nothing more than just pure hatred. The film was enjoyable. I've grown up always wanting to see JEM AND THE HOLOGRAMS on the big screen in the theater, and today, I got to do just that. 30 years later.
PS. First day blu-ray purchase.
- M. WOOD