Jem and the Holograms didn’t quite make our list of most underrated films of 2015, but it sure came close. The Jon M. Chu produced and directed film has landed on Blu-Ray and DVD and let’s hope it finds more of an audience than it did in theaters because it may not be exactly what fans of the 80s cartoon series had hoped for in a movie, but it still is something quite special in its own right.
Aubrey Peeples stars as the orphan Jerrica, who with her sister Kimber (Stefanie Scott) are a pair of teens who were taken in by Aunt Bailey (Molly Ringwald) when they were young after their parents tragically died. They have become a sisterhood with Bailey’s daughters – Shana (Aurora Perrineau) and Aja (Hayley Kiyoko) – as they live their life in a north of Los Angeles community making it day to day.
One night, Jerrica makes a video of her singing a song and strumming her guitar and calls herself Jem. Kimber stumbles upon the clip, puts it online and within a day she is an international music sensation. Everyone wants to know, “Who is Jem?” Before long, she identifies herself and music manager Erica Raymond (Juliette Lewis) arrives at her door and is ready to take the four singing “sisters” to Hollywood to make them superstars.
There’s also a number of subplots that enhance the picture, including an artificial intelligence robot that Jerrica’s late father was building when he died that features prominently. Raymond’s supposedly wayward son Rio (Ryan Guzman) is trying to find his place in his mother’s business and is assigned the role of “babysitting” the girls while they adjust to being new Angelinos/music superstars.
Jem and the Holograms, in Cho’s version, is a cautionary tale about fame in the social media age where someone can literally become a sensation overnight. It also is a terrific story about sisterhood and family and that our kin is where we find it, and not necessarily from where we were born. But, its theme that is most resonant is that we should all believe in ourselves and trust our instincts and our talents to lead us to where our destiny lies. It’s powerful and especially one that many younger girls should see.
Why Jem and the Holograms missed with audiences in theaters is fodder for box office experts. We think it suffered from fan backlash the moment that first Jem and the Holograms trailer premiered. But regardless, it’s available now on home video and we couldn’t recommend it more.
When it comes to bonus features. There is one that stands above all the others and that’s Glam, Glitter, Fashion and Fame: The Reinvention of Jem. It’s an interesting look at how Cho and his team captured the tone of the film and took a cult classic cartoon and made it a modern tale about social media, fame and following your heart.
We also cherished the look at the choreography in the Glam, Glitter bonus featurette. That’s another element that might speak to the younger audiences and it’s rare that a film gives the spotlight to that art form. Costumes and makeup are also given their props and given how the film pops with color from both elements, it’s nice to see how they achieved the vibrant visual hue.
There are about a dozen deleted scenes, an almost-five-minute gag reel and the music video for Youngblood. One of the casualties of the film not hitting with theatrical audiences is that Youngblood didn’t become the international hit song it should have. It is from the songwriting team that has penned hits for Usher and Justin Bieber and perhaps with the home video release, Youngblood will take off as it is one of the catchier tracks to land in 2015.
Given that Chu has had a Jem movie on his mind for years and years, his audio commentary track is a pure delight. This is a passion project for the filmmaker (who is about to release Now You See Me 2) and he takes us through the making of the movie, from casting choices, locations and his hopes for making Jem and the Holograms a franchise.
Film: B
Bonus Features: B