Steineded How sad is this?

RipDelight This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

Voxitype Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

Kamila Bell This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

chocokitty11 I sat through all 3 High School Musicals, both the Camp Rock movies,Bandslam, and Lemonade Mouth. I even sat through Mean Girls 2. It was painful, but I managed to do it. This movie, however, I had to stop watching in the middle of it. At first, the movie was stupid yet enjoyable. Niko had some amusing snarky comments. However,after the first half an hour you realize that the characters are incredibly annoying. Niko is an egotistical whiny douche bag, and Courtney is a controlling selfish bitch. The plot is predictable and the acting is painful to watch. I think I need to stop watching these awful TV movie musicals. If you want to watch a good movie musical, go to your local movie rental and pick up Grease, Cry Baby, Rent, Chicago, Rocky Horror Picture Show, or Dream Girls. Don't watch some cheap squeaky clean garbage made by a kid's network. I give it a two because I'm in a good mood.

ronnel2195 The thing with movies characterized by music and performing arts is that its essence depends largely on the relevance and the timing of its performances in relation to a particular issue in the story. Spectacular! may be underrated and under-appreciated but a deeper analysis of the film may reveal quite a degree of sense and heart in it lying behind its seeming superficiality.The movie can be summarized through its four (4) songs strategically performed in different parts of the story.The first song contains lines such as "I'm living my life just the way I like", "Don't tell me what I got to do, who I wanna be 'coz it's me who'll choose", "No more rules coz I just don't have the time", "I wanna go crazy and no one's gonna stop me." As it was performed, we are practically introduced to the band singer, Niko, a teenager aspiring to be a recording star who got dumped by his own band and girlfriend at the same night. Soon, however, he was recruited by a performing choir leader who has been accustomed to performing inside a 'box', so to speak, and to living strictly by the rules.Conflicting perspective somehow made it quite a deal for Niko. Nothing natural, however, can be hidden for long. Soon, his outlook was discovered and surprisingly appreciated by the choir members. In fact, he started teaching the choir members new dance steps for a change.Somewhere at the middle of the movie, another song was sung containing lines such as, "For the first time, I realize something I didn't see before; for the first time, looking in your eyes, suddenly, there's so much more; something, we both feel inside, for the first time". At this point, we are drawn to the idea that Niko finally and officially got hooked into the performing choir as he started introducing new Spectacular traditions. With the choir members at his back, he actually began sharing in their dream of winning and soaring to heights. He, somehow, forgot his former band and his own aspiration and became one with the new group.The third song is the group's entry to the national competition containing lines such as, "You give me something to believe in after all we've been through; the love you gave, it all comes back to you", "… and here with you is where I'm meant to be". As in any other group endeavoring to soar, unpleasant things sometimes happen, test of character, difficult choices to be made, truth uncovered during the worst of circumstances, break ups. Good thing is that people are almost always drawn to where their heart is. Realizing that he taught the group something new to believe in and that it's heartless to just abandon and fail them after what they've been through, Niko made the most risky decision in his lifetime.Little did Niko knew that this unselfish act would be greatly rewarded. As he soared in his newfound career, even the ones around him who lost their radiance found their way to reinvent themselves and soar with him.The last song is the end credits song containing lines such as, "Coz everything can change when you least expect it", "Can't stop what you can't control, gotta learn how to just let go", "some things turn out much better the way it is with us". It's practically a good summary and I guess everything that happened in the story already speak for themselves…*

ANightToRemember I was "eh" on this film until I bought the soundtrack for 12 bucks at a local Wal-Mart, and I was surprised to find that the songs were actually not just great, but Spectacular! (Yes, that was cheesy, quiet now). They are actually rock songs you would accidentally find on limewire and fall in love with. They're just plain better.Nikko (Funk) is a wannabe rock star with his eyes set on the future, but when he is dumped by his band, he meets up with Courtney (Sursok) who invites him to be in their show choir, Spectacular! to win a music competition. But the rival choir, Ta-Da!, has other plans to win the music competition, with Royce (Curtis) and Tammi (Justice) in the lead of the show, and they plan to win for another year. Nikko completely changes what the band once was, but will that be good enough to win? Okay, I won't lie, the situations were not exactly original, but it was pulled off in such an original way. And the acting in this film is incredibly impressive for people this young. Props to Simon Curtis and Tammin Sursok, who I believe made the film. And Nolan Funk's rock voice was what made the film a hit for me. The only thing a bit disappointing was Victoria Justice, who plays her part well, but has about 10 minutes of screen time in this 90 minute movie, and she doesn't really seem like that "bad girl" that Sharpay Evans was in HSM.The direction is, at most, basic. The editing is decent, and the placing of the songs is great, however, "Everything Can Change" has got to be one of the most boring finales ever done. They just stand there in the studio and sing. I figured it'd be some "You Can't Stop The Beat" or "Hot Honey Rag", and explosive incredible finale! But it wasn't.All in all, it was a great, entertaining film, and I will be the first in line for the DVD, because it's one heck of a TV movie.

Lily-32 So I already knew I was going in with high expectations. I can't help myself when I get excited for something. And while this movie didn't meet those expectations, I still enjoyed it and will enjoy it again through future viewings. The story seems a bit empty and disjointed and the resolution leaves something to be desired but you can tell what they're trying to accomplish with this little flick.I gave it a higher rating probably than the actual quality deserves simply because I could watch and enjoy without worrying about the content found all over TV elsewhere. It was actually more tame than I was expecting from a Nickelodeon movie - they tend to push the limits Disney Channel doesn't - but they held back this time and it worked.It's not the best movie ever made and if you HAVE to compare it to HSM - which you shouldn't, but many will - then maybe it's not quite up to that par. But it's enjoyable in it's own right.And anyone who was every in show choir - as I was once upon a long ago - then maybe you'll get a nice little trip down memory lane.