It was actually pretty funny and the ending wasn't what I was expecting. I was hoping it would have ended differently, ha, but it ended very well. The graphics were very fake though, I would have thought that with this day and age and Disney's resources they could have made realistic graphics, but that's alright. The younger audience wouldn't notice. Overall, fairly good. Funny. Don't know if I'll think so a second time around, but then who knows, the tv show is funny and the movie definately holds up to the tv show.
Reviews
2 Reviews
Cadet Kelly
(2002 TV Movie)
Would have to agree with david-47
19 April 2003
I attended a H.S. that had an Air Force Junior ROTC unit, one of the prominent ones in the state, not to mention one of the best in the region (we have ribbons from being inspected by the Area Unit Manager for over 20 consecutive years). I also participated on armed and unarmed drill teams, regulation and exhibition (and the rifles used by our main armed exhibition team weren't little facsimile ones that weighed two ounces. They were 1903 Springfield's that weighed, oh, 9-12 pounds.).
This movie really did not please me. It had a nice concept, it really did. And yes I do realize it was a Disney movie, but seriously, it would have taken a whoppin' 5 minutes to do research on this. I've never heard the command Spin Order Arms, or however they said it. We called those animal spins. Why, I honestly don't know, but for exhibition, there was no need to give commands 'cause everything was done in counts. And I agree that Hilary Duff's character would not have gotten away with anything that she did in a real academy, or even a JROTC. And there's a thing called shoe polish, so spit shining, is not really a necessity. My shoes were always extremely shiny and I never spit on them. If girls go into this thinking that hey, we get to do all of this cool stuff, they'll be disappointed because the reality is much different. It's fun, but it's not laid back, do-whatever-it-is-you-want kinda fun. Oh, and I especially loved the dancing at the end, 'cause that's what it was. There are rules in drill meets. Exhibition does mean you get to do pretty much whatever you want as long as it's done in a military style, not dancing. If that were true, boy, our drill meets would have been interesting.
Acting: I was pretty much annoyed by Hilary Duff's inadequate acting ability in this movie. Christy Carlson Romano, not a big fan to begin with and I don't think she really pulled off what she was trying. Nice attempt though. Shawn Ashmore was pretty good and consistent, not much to say about him. The man who played the general I thought did fairly well even if he was instructed to do something through the script that did not fit realistic military protocol.
Overall... I'd say a 4 out of 10. It was decent, enough to watch the whole thing, but if you come from JROTC or ROTC or any of the military branches, you'll find yourself critiquing it a lot more than you would have otherwise because of all of the things that were inaccurate.
This movie really did not please me. It had a nice concept, it really did. And yes I do realize it was a Disney movie, but seriously, it would have taken a whoppin' 5 minutes to do research on this. I've never heard the command Spin Order Arms, or however they said it. We called those animal spins. Why, I honestly don't know, but for exhibition, there was no need to give commands 'cause everything was done in counts. And I agree that Hilary Duff's character would not have gotten away with anything that she did in a real academy, or even a JROTC. And there's a thing called shoe polish, so spit shining, is not really a necessity. My shoes were always extremely shiny and I never spit on them. If girls go into this thinking that hey, we get to do all of this cool stuff, they'll be disappointed because the reality is much different. It's fun, but it's not laid back, do-whatever-it-is-you-want kinda fun. Oh, and I especially loved the dancing at the end, 'cause that's what it was. There are rules in drill meets. Exhibition does mean you get to do pretty much whatever you want as long as it's done in a military style, not dancing. If that were true, boy, our drill meets would have been interesting.
Acting: I was pretty much annoyed by Hilary Duff's inadequate acting ability in this movie. Christy Carlson Romano, not a big fan to begin with and I don't think she really pulled off what she was trying. Nice attempt though. Shawn Ashmore was pretty good and consistent, not much to say about him. The man who played the general I thought did fairly well even if he was instructed to do something through the script that did not fit realistic military protocol.
Overall... I'd say a 4 out of 10. It was decent, enough to watch the whole thing, but if you come from JROTC or ROTC or any of the military branches, you'll find yourself critiquing it a lot more than you would have otherwise because of all of the things that were inaccurate.
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