By now you have heard that Teen Beach 2, the sequel to the Teen Beach Movie, aired yesterday Friday 26, 2015. I had the opportunity to watch it; the music is rockin and the message, we all make choices, resonates with kid and adult viewers. However, at the end of Teen Beach 2, I felt like Anna from Frozen…Wait, What?
After the threat of being zapped from existence, Mack (Maya Mitchell) and Brady (Ross Lynch) start to adjust to life in the real world. The ‘Wet Side Story’ adventure is over and their relationship is a fairy-tale…that is until school starts. Mack surfs into school with a full itinerary of activities. She starts an Oceanography club, has several after school activities and creates a “Save The Beach” dance. With her to do list so long, Brady finds himself on the sidelines and calls off the relationship. However, when Lela (Grace Phipps) and Tanner (Garrett Clayton) splash into the jeepers of a world we call reality, Brady and Mack are forced back together as they try to figure out what to do with the movie-couple.
Now for the “Wait, What?” part of the movie.
Teen Beach 2 doesn’t follow the happily ever after, everything is back to normal motif. Far from it. My head spun into a complete 180 turn as I realized the first Teen Beach Movie, the one I loved so much…It no longer exists…Mind Blown. In fact the last 20 minutes of Teen Beach 2 are completely trashed as well. A dramatic sacrifice of time to save the relationship of two friends leads to an epic failure and to the most crazy wipe-out ending I have ever seen in a Disney Channel Movie. Literally, my head is still trying to make sense of what Disney just did. I am not sure if I should cry, worry, or be happy. Maybe all three.
Although, the ending is not as smooth as a perfect surf board, the movie itself leaves a message worthy for any viewer, kid or adult. We all make our own choices in life. Sometimes making choices is hard, because the outcome is not clear. For example, Lela chooses to stay in the real world. Her choice leads to her friends being in danger. She takes responsibility for her choices and chooses to rectify the situation and save her friends. Her path led to struggles and possible disaster but as a newly self-aware human being, she was given the responsibility to make choices and create her own path. Eventually she finds her path and creates a better girl-power movie called ‘Lela Queen of the Beach’. Just like Lela, we can change our Wet Side Stories into rockin’ Queen of the Beach stories by making the right choices and following our hearts.
Speaking of ‘rockin,’ I thought the music in the movie was awesome. It had the same feel as the first Teen Beach Movie but included a whole new vibe. For example, the movie included several songs from Teen Beach Movie, such as Meant to Be, but the beats were changed to fit Teen Beach 2. There are also new songs sung by Ross Lynch. He sings “On My Own” beautifully.
All the music is dance and sing along worthy, especially the last number, “Gotta Be Me.”
With the rockin music, great message and the head turning ‘Wait, What’ moment, this movie is a must see for all ages. I enjoyed it so much I will be watching it again. But after watching this movie I can’t help but ask…will there be a Teen Beach 3?
Grab a copy of the DVD and soundtrack from amazon.com and watch the most epic wipe-out movie this summer from Disney Channel.
Also grab the free printables to Teen Beach Movie and Teen Beach 2 from my blog here and have the best Teen Beach Party!
