Full Film Review: Jem and the Holograms the movie
Starring: Aubrey Peeples, Stefanie Scott, Aurora Perrineau, Hayley Kiyoko, Ryan Guzman, Molly Ringwald, & Juliette Lewis
For those not familiar with Jem and the Holograms, this film is based on the original '80s cartoon Jem and the Holograms. Some of you may have read my pre-review that was based on the trailer which I completely ripped the film apart. I was looking forward to doing that once I saw the film but I can't; that's right, I can't rip the film apart.
The story itself has been reinvented to stray away from the cartoon. The problem with doing this is that those of us who are big fans of the cartoon find ourselves extremely disappointed. The film is missing the key elements of the story that made us love the cartoon however I must give the director, stylists, and writers, credit because when you look closely at certain elements, the basis of the cartoon are there. With that said, let's dive right in shall we?
In this live action movie version of the pink haired rocker, Jerrica and Kimber Benton lost their father at a very young age. They were brought to the home of their Aunt Bailey (portrayed by 80s icon Molly Ringwald) who had 2 foster daughters, Aja and Shanna. The story is completely modernized. The film opens up with Jerrica making a video of herself "revealing" her identity as Jem. Jerrica reveals that her father, Emmett, called her his "Jem" though I'm sure it was more like "gem."Kimber is super energetic and without a doubt the more outgoing between her and Jerrica. When the girls fight, Aunt Bailey has them harmonize to ease their tensions. Their individual "specialties" are clear from the start; Jerrica is the songwriter & singer, Kimber takes after her big sister but very social media savvy, Shana is the designer, and Aja is the rebel.
Starlight House is gone, nonexistent. Starlight Music does not belong to Jerrica but belongs to EricA Raymond and her son, Rio. With this new change this completely wipes out the beautiful story of how Jerrica and Kimber's mom, Jackie, was a singer and how Emmett carried on with designing the star earrings for Jerrica. The other thing is that Synergy is reduced to a mere robotic invention that leads Jerrica on a treasure hunt to finish Synergy as well as recover a message from her father.
The message this film conveys is the heart of Jem. She talks about being yourself, having confidence in yourself. Yes this is a film about finding yourself, forgiveness, and family but as a fan of the animated series, I can say that I wish they didn't stray so much from the original story. The absence of The Misfits, ERIC Raymond, and the Stingers was missed. The Starlight girls, Starlight House was a big part of the series and I feel that these components along with the original storyline truly hurt this film. The explanations they have for say the persona of Jem, Synergy, Erica Raymond (which is like a Scooby Doo laugh of a character), ruins the illusion for so many fans. It ruins the authenticity of the lessons Jem taught us and the adventures she took us on.
While this film would be great standing on its own merit, I was highly disappointed. It was a huge letdown and if anyone attempts to reboot it, here's a lesson: don't stray so much from the original. Fans will not support it.
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