The Driftwood #37: Movie Recs

If you’re too exhausted after finals to go outside, soak up the sun vicariously with the Teen Beach Movie duology, both available on Disney+ and to rent on other streaming sites.

Teen Beach Movie was released in 2013 as a Disney Chanel Original and is currently not rated, though I feel a PG rating would have been fine. This film follows a young surfer, McKenzie, a.k.a. Mack, who gets lost at sea while out surfing during a huge storm and washes up in a strange new place. This place is filled with groovy people, rad retro ’60’s style, and one more thing … lots and lots of singing. In fact, there’s even a whole song dedicated to Mack being sick of singing titled “I Can’t Stop Singing.” After being transported to a whole new world while she’s out in a storm surfing, Mack has to try to figure out a way home once she realizes she’s stranded inside an actual movie, Wet Side Story (not a typo), all while being faced with a new love interest, Brady. This movie is based on and follows the plot of a classic film, West Side Story, with rival gangs (Surfers vs. Bikers), star-crossed lovers, and of course an extreme amount of singing. Teen Beach Movie is a fun, reinvented twist for the generation it was designed for. I would say it did it’s job of being an entertaining yet somehow almost brand-new story in its own way. The movie was an all-around success and became a hit amongst the kids. I give this film 7/10 stars simply because the singing gets to be a bit much.

Teen Beach Movie 2

Teen Beach Movie 2, directed by Jeffery Hornaday and distributed by Disney, is the sequel to the film Teen Beach Movie. In Teen Beach Movie 2, the story continues with our main characters Mac and Brady, who are enjoying the rest of their summer, but something has been bothering them and that is: what will their relationship look like once school has started? Since the two of them started dating each other that summer, they don’t know how school will affect them. They promise to stay a team and navigate school together. Yet things don’t go as planned as they start drifting apart the minute they return back to their old routine. Yet there’s no time to focus on that anymore because low and behold, Lela and Tanner are at their school! Lela and Tanner are the main characters from Brady’s favorite movie Wet Side Story, into which Mac and Brady had been magically transported in the first Teen Beach Movie. The two had followed Mac and Brady back to the real world. It is now up to Brady and Mac to help Tanner and Lela return back to their movie before it disappears because without our leads, there is no movie! Will they make it in time, and will Mac and Brady’s relationship ever be the same? Personally, I think this movie is cute and very enjoyable. Although it is not as good as the first movie, it is still one of those films that you can kick back, relax, and enjoy. Even though the film takes place during the school year, you still get that sun-loving feeling from it, making it all the more enjoyable.