Camp Rock

Chicago Sun-TimesMisha Davenport

There's nothing objectionable about the messages of the piece: always be true to yourself and treat everyone with dignity and respect. But teens and adults may find it a little saccharine.

New York PostAdam Buckman

It's really a great movie, like a modern-day version of an old Judy Garland-Mickey Rooney picture in which the kids put on a show that improves the lives of all who see it.

NewsdayVerne Gay

This is a hit, and has been carefully crafted by Disney to become one. The formula may be as old as pop culture itself, but (again) who really cares?

Orlando SentinelHal Boedeker

Camp Rock is glossy, all right, and should provide a glow for Walt Disney Co.

Hollywood ReporterBarry Garron

It takes nothing away from this genuinely talented group of kids to express even greater admiration for the promotion and marketing.

New York Daily NewsDavid Hinckley

What matters is how well it's done, and Disney does a lot of things right. It's multicultural. Parents are portrayed as people. The intrapersonal dramas are small enough so viewers will understand them.

TV GuideMatt Roush

It’s all very sweet and tuneful, and took me back to my days as a Hayley Mills groupie.

SlateTroy Patterson

This being Disney product, these issues are dealt with in primary colors, uplifting tones, and production levels that aim for exact competence—a workaday professionalism that's never too slick to alienate anyone.

TimeJames Poniewozik

The band has a refreshing scruffiness but except for Joe gets too little screen time to leaven the formula slickness.

VarietyBrian Lowry

Like "High School Musical," it's a painfully simple but efficient fairy tale for a generation that never heard of Frankie and Annette, blending music with teen angst about fitting in--all built around a likable protagonist, multiethnic cast and hot pop trio.

Boston GlobeJoanna Weiss

If only the endeavor felt more worthy, and less prefabricated at some offshore factory where workers in mouse ears plug in the parts: the underconfident girl with a surprisingly pretty voice, the semi-bad boy with a sensitive side, the meticulously choreographed musical numbers, the heartfelt Disney lessons about self-love and self-expression.

Los Angeles TimesRobert Lloyd

Camp Rock isn't particularly good, but it's good at what it does. The product may be "inauthentic," if such a thing is even possible, but the way it will connect with a lot of little girls and more than a few little boys is real enough.

Entertainment WeeklyGillian Flynn

Camp Rock is so rigidly formulaic, so unremarkable, that by the time the cast sings its finale, ''We Rock,'' it's hard to agree.

USA TodayRobert Bianco

Simultaneously overdone and underproduced, the movie jerks its way from point to point without bothering to explain the characters' behavior or inject any life into its musical numbers.

The New York TimesNeil Genzlinger

The movie has some bright spots, but so much of it revolves around the resident diva of the title camp that it’s hard to focus on the good stuff; you’re too annoyed at having this lazily imagined character shoved down your throat for the zillionth time.

Washington PostJennifer Frey

Alas, although she's likable enough, Lovato just doesn't have the same sparkle as a Miley Cyrus--or an Ashley Tisdale, for that matter. And though her music is in the same dance-inspiring, easy-to-memorize mode as that of the "HSM" franchise, it's not as catchy.