Jem and the Holograms
Published February 8, 2025
Film info
- Title Jem and the Holograms
- Director Jon M. Chu
- Year 2015
- Run time 1hr 59m
- Genres Family, Music, Drama
- Tagline Every generation needs a voice
As a small-town girl catapults from underground video sensation to global superstar, she and her three sisters begin a one-in-a-million journey of discovering that some talents are too special to keep hidden. Four aspiring musicians will take the world by storm when they see that the key to creating your own destiny lies in finding your own voice.
Live blog
| Time | Comment |
|---|---|
| 1:59 | “Why else would Facebook have a wall? Because once you’ve made your life look perfect, you need something to hide behind.” |
| 7:26 | Great way to get people to calm down. ‘Four part harmony, GO.’ |
| 13:50 | Such affinity with not knowing how to say hi and get into a video. |
| 17:30 | I can’t really get on board with someone uploading a video without asking the person. |
| 25:35 | There are a lot of weird names in this film, Zipper being the latest one. |
| 36:05 | I find it odd the room has four double beds in it. |
| 41:40 | The movie has taken a turn I wasn’t expecting. |
| 45:59 | No way is the robot waterproof. |
| 54:15 | Squinch. |
| 59:07 | Pitch Perfect vibes here. |
| 1:11:52 | She signed it Jem, that can’t be legally binding. |
| 1:22:43 | Randomly breaking out into song on someone else’s front steps. |
| 1:23:27 | Valet of the Damned! Ok, it’s all been worth it. |
| 1:34:40 | Ok, I have so many questions. |
| 1:44:59 | I really love Zipper in the end. |
Thoughts
It feels like there are two halves to this movie - one is brilliant, the other is nonsense - and they just don’t rub together very well. The part about four girls believing in themselves, sticking together, and finding their way to a promising start in the music industry is good… formulaic but good. The four girls are great and have lovely chemistry, the ‘bad music industry bods’ are funny, and it’s quite inspiring with good songs along the way.
Then you have the whole side-plot with the sadly deceased father who rather than learning he had limited time left and spending it with his family, instead locked himself away in the garage and built a beat-boxing robot hiding a Famous Five style treasure hunt puzzle. SO WEIRD. And through the whole thing, this father seems fixated on one of his kids and then only remembers he has another right at the very end. Traipsing around LA with this robot was just off-the-scale weird, full of plot holes and only served to distract from the actual good moments of the movie.
So to sum up, good music and an entertaining way to spend a couple of hours, but I can’t in good faith recommend this to anyone.
Rating: 2 / 5