Camp Rock 3 (now on Disney+) revives a Disney Channel mini-franchise that’s been dormant for 16 years. The original 2008 movie and its 2010 sequel helped launch the careers of the Jonas Bros. and Demi Lovato, so it makes sense that the new endeavor dips into the current Disney stable to assemble a new (read: more age-appropriate for a movie about teen musicians) cast, including Liamani Segura (High School Musical: The Musical: The Series), Lumi Pollack (Electric Bloom) and Malachi Barton (Under Wraps). And the result is about what you’d expect from a DCOM (Disney Channel Original Movie, for the uninitiated), no matter who’s starring in it. 

CAMP ROCK 3: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT? 

The Gist: The strains of Segura singing an upbeat pop ditty called “Brand New Day” accompanies an, um, brand new day at Camp Rock, which is the most subtle gesture a DCOM can muster. We meet Segura’s character, Sage, as her parents drop her off at Camp Rock. “I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be!”, she beams. From here, we meet an array of her fellow campers, who can be summed up tidily by character type: Desi (Hudson Stone), Sage’s annoying brother; Rosie (Pollack), the classical cellist who wants to drop her conservative demeanor to discover her inner showboat; Fletch (Barton), the heavy-of-eyebrow bad boy type who’s actually sensitive; and the rest are smaller players with various quirks, like resident mean girl influencer Maddie the Baddie (Ava Jean), quasi-bestie type Callie (Brooklynn Pitts) and Cliff (Casey Trotter), who drums on everything with such annoying persistence, his drumsticks get tossed on the roof.

Meanwhile, the Jonas Bros. are far closer to 40 than we’d like to admit. They again play the superstar pop trio Connect 3, who turn to Camp Rock for an opening act for their upcoming sold-out tour, although their appearance in this movie is limited to about four scenes, so don’t get too excited. So their wiseacre manager Lark (Sherry Cola) organizes a showbiz obstacle-course-ish gauntlet for the campers to land the coveted spot. Hopefuls will cover a Connect 3 song, participate in a dance competition, and spend a harrowing night in a tour bus, then perform an original song of their own just in time for the not-at-all-secret Demi Lovato cameo appearance. Some campers will butt heads and others will mash lips and inevitably the minor conflicts presented will be resolved in as uncomplicated a fashion as they deserve.

What Movies Will It Remind You Of? Theater Camp, Ernest Goes to Camp and maybe Crip Camp, but definitely not Sleepaway Camp. 

Performance Worth Watching: Cola can enliven almost any production. But it surely goes without saying that Joy Ride and Shortcomings are better vehicles for her comedy talents.

Sex And Skin: In a DCOM? Get outta here.

Our Take: You are correct in your assumption that a 92-minute Disney Channel movie that indulges roughly a half-dozen musical numbers does not provide adequate structural narrative support for all those characters (there are a few more I didn’t mention, lest this review be scant more than a padded list of proper names). But quality storytelling isn’t the goal of the Camp Rocks. They present conflicts that have barely graduated preschool, and solves them in the tidiest happy-ending manner possible. No one’s here to defy a single expectation.

Like most Disney Channel productions, these movies are so insular in their talent that every product feels like a promotional endeavor for other products under the ubersprawl of the Disney circus tent. Watching Camp Rock 3 may inspire fans to rabbithole down all the Jonas Bros. content, Barton’s Zombies movies, etc., until their Rokus explode like the fireworks above Cinderella’s castle, and the Disney corp. will love it. Oh, and don’t forget to check out the new songs on your preferred audio streaming platform!

Camp Rock 3 nevertheless seems primed to poke the same pleasure zones as the previous films. It’s bright, cheery and full of music that’s only slightly less tryhard-y and overstated than the comedy — the usual stuff that Disney has formulated to appeal to the youth demographic. It also feels calculated in its use of nostalgia to rope in the now-aging fans of the first two movies, and any children they may have, bridging a generation gap of old and new Disney consumers. There’s nothing at all offensive about the surface content of Camp Rock 3.

Our Call: Camp Rock 3 is fine. Just fine! So STREAM IT, I guess. Now don’t forget to update your credit card autopay info. lest you miss a single second of Disney+ content. 

John Serba is a freelance film critic from Grand Rapids, Michigan. Werner Herzog hugged him once.