Radio Rebel

This is aimed at teenagers and even more so female ones (girls). Now keep that in the back of your mind, because if that does not apply to you, you might be judging this by different standards. Because this is full of cliches and some are not even dressed that well.

Add to that an ending that may make some/certain people cringe ... you might have a viewing experience that does not live up to the standards you expected. So Highschool drama and love and such things are being explored ... and you know finding oneself plus growing up and sticking it to the (wo)man ... one very weird moment for a few people at least, is a "I am Spartacus" inspired thing ... it does feel very wrong, no matter the good intentions behind it. But it might still be working with the target audience - especially because they might not have seen that particular scene/movie

Tara Adams (Debby Ryan) is a shy high school senior. She's secretly a podcast DJ called Radio Rebel. Her alter ego is quite popular except for mean girl Stacy.

Disney is pumping out a copy of 1990 teen classic 'Pump Up The Volume'. This time, Disney princess Debby Ryan is placed into Christian Slater's iconic role. It's not the worst idea to copy a good movie but it's just not a good way to create something worthwhile. It doesn't have Pump Up The Volume's edginess. Certainly it doesn't have the sex talk or the swearing or the nudity or the R-rating. It's a Disney TV movie. Debby Ryan is not going to make a jump in quality from being in this movie. If you're a Debby fan, this is certainly good clean fun. If you're not, you'll probably be bored.

I'm not going to deny, when I saw this film announced, first thought "sounds interesting", but then I read "Disney" at the bottom and I started regretting my first feelings and wondering if I suffered from mental insanity. But no, I'm still here, not locked in a safe room or anything.

Let's start with basics. Lesson one, children, grasping the standard Disney plot - unpopular girl with big dreams, a nemesis/Queen Bee who ALSO loves that same big dream and tries to make unpopular girl's life miserable in order to get it, a "hot" guy is thrown in between the process, the guy notices Unpopular Girl but then is dragged away by Queen Bee, a failed-attempt at character development and BAM! ...there's a dance, Queen Bee becomes Queen Fail and Unpopular Girl gets the guy.

While "Radio Rebel" DOES somewhat follow the basic scheme, it at least reaches a level of awesomeness. Don't get me wrong, I see the resemblance (or was it "copying of"?) "Pump Up the Volume", but what made it worthy of seeing was the fact that it adapted to what today's teens understood, lived, and would enjoy seeing. Debby Ryan (portraying main character, Tara) is a rising star that a lot of teens know and look up to - so her portraying a shy high schooler with issues of her own (the cute guy she's too afraid to talk to, the Queen Bee trying to bring her down, not being that close with her new stepfather, and have I mentioned the extreme shyness that could be mistaken for monastic silence?). It's what us average teens know and breathe. So while there's nothing sparkly in the scheme, it speaks to today's teens and that's what we like. Not to mention, there were a few giggles here and there. More to the "like" list.

So what am I saying? I'm saying that this film is different from the usual "same story, same boring" pattern that Disney movies tend to follow...while it was strongly based from "Pump Up the Volume", it still had strong elements that make me want to watch it again, particularly the lessons that shy high schooler Tara teaches us - to just be ourselves...to embrace it and not just hide it away in the dark (or in Tara's case, a recording studio), to go out into the sunlight, scream, and let our uniqueness shine in the daylight.

It's a cheesy teen romantic comedy. Don't watch it if you're expecting anything novel or different, but it's not bad to watch if you want something easy on....

Radio Rebel is a good time. Debby Ryan really makes the movie. The way she portrays someone who is shy and afraid to step out is pretty accurate. I love that a Disney movie decided to portray a more realistic character like this. It's not common to see this type of character as a main character who gets to grow. The character development was surprisingly great. The guy she ends up liking is just not that great. He asked the other girl to prom but then falls for the other girl. I mean I just don't think that's okay. There was a plot twist at the end that shocked me. I had to pause the movie just to think it through. Overall, I really liked it and think the character is an amazing role model.