‘Hannah Montana: The Movie’ Hasn’t Aged Well With Me | DVD Review

I’d be lying if I said that I never wanted to be Hannah Montana! I mean, come on, she was a normal girl in the day and a popstar in the night. She was able to have all the fame and fortune without the annoying paparazzi, thanks to her famous blonde wig. Hannah Montana (2006 – 2011) is in my top five favorite Disney Channel shows because it had a unique plotline and the catchiest theme song ever. I dressed as Hannah for Halloween, I had the gold scarf and jacket, had her soundtrack album for season one, never missed a new episode of the series, listened to her music constantly, and I bought Hannah Montana: The Movie (2009) on DVD.

While I’m still a Hannah Montana fan at heart, I’m not a fan of this movie anymore. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a good movie and I love the plot, but it’s like Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie (2009), something dramatic happens and they go on this grand adventure, only for it to never be brought up in the series as if that fiasco never happened. But let’s get back to the plot, when the superstar life gets the best of Miley Stewart (Miley Cyrus), her dad decides it’s time for a change of scenery. He brings Miley back to her hometown in Crowley Corners, Tennessee, where she must decide whether to keep her glamorous lifestyle as Hannah or return to her roots as Miley. It has a dramatic flair to it, doesn’t it?

The film does have a good message because it’s easy for a celebrity to get caught up in their glamorous lifestyle and forget where they come from. In other words, they put fame and fortune over their family and friends. I’ve read about celebrities losing their minds because the pressure of being famous was too much for them. I enjoyed watching Miley’s character development throughout the film, from this stuck-up celebrity that fought Tyra Banks for a pair of shoes to a simple country girl that wanted a normal life. I also enjoyed the drama that Oswald’s character brought to the film. In addition to Miley being stuck in Tennessee for a couple of weeks, she has to keep Oswald from finding out her Hannah secret, or else he’ll reveal it to the press.

In terms of characters, I don’t like Lorelai and I found her character to be annoying. There is this scene at the dinner with the town’s mayor, where she gets so upset at Hannah for ruining the event, even though her dad tries to explain that her life is “complicated.” I didn’t like that Lorelai was just there to be the love interest for Miley’s dad. Sure, she fixes cars and drives trucks, but what else does she do?

I had a huge crush on Travis as a kid and watching the film again as an adult made me remember why, because man, he was a babe! I liked that Travis, along with her grandmother, helped Miley remember the great things about Tennessee. I felt bad for him when he found out Miley’s secret because relationships are about trust; Travis was hurt by Miley’s dishonesty. It was kind of her fault, to begin with, since she told Travis that she knew Hannah Montana. So, when they needed to raise money to save their hometown from being turned into a mall, Travis was like, “Hey, let’s get Hannah Montana to do a benefit concert and save the day!” Miley could’ve also told Lorelai that Hannah had a change of plans and couldn’t make the dinner anymore, instead of trying to be in two places at once.

As for the songs, I never need to hear “The Climb” ever again! I can still listen to it once in a while, but it’s kind of an uplifting song and there’s only a certain level of happiness that I can take. Besides, the song is overplayed to death; I still hear it on the radio today. I still dig “Hoedown Throwdown” because of the nostalgia and I love the challenge of trying to do the dance, haha. The Hannah songs featured in the movie, “Let’s Get Crazy,” “Let’s Do This,” and “You’ll Always Find Your Way Back Home,” are catchy as heck! The latter has a good message because it’s saying no matter where you are in life, you’ll always remember where you came from. 

Let’s not forget about “Crazier” by Taylor Swift. I was all about the love songs as a kid because they summed up my love life, especially the ones by Swift. Even though I can’t stand her current music, I’ll always remember the sweet innocent Country girl she once was; well at least her songs were innocent.

One of the reasons why I don’t like the film is because of the ending. When Miley takes off her wig and tells the crowd that she’s Hannah Montana, the little girl in the front row is like, “Please be Hannah, we’ll keep your secret.” And I’m like, “Yeah right!” What if that concert was televised, then what would’ve Miley done? A secret is a secret for a reason; you can’t just tell your entire hometown that you’re Hannah Montana and expect them to keep it a secret.

That crowd was packed; it’s like part of the world knows Miley is Hannah and the rest of the world is clueless. I think Miley could’ve handled the situation better; she could’ve pulled Lorelai to the side and told her about the secret then. She didn’t have to get all dramatic and tell all of Tennessee that she’s Hannah. But if Miley hadn’t done that, then Oswald wouldn’t have figured it out and the gang wouldn’t have needed to talk him out of selling the story to the press. I’m really overthinking this!

Now, despite all of that drama, none of that is mentioned in the rest of the Hannah Montana series, which is another reason why I don’t like the film. The movie was released on April 10, 2009 and season three of the show ran from 2008 to 2010. Travis and Lorelai were never mentioned on the series and the gang went on with the show acting like the movie never happened. The creators must’ve forgot about that fiasco because the season three finale was a two-part special revolving around Miley wanting to move back to Tennessee because she’s homesick. 

Also, in the movie, Lilly was celebrating her 16th birthday. But in the TV show, Lilly celebrated her 16th birthday in the season three episode titled, “Can’t Get Home to You Girl,” which premiered on November 8, 2009. According to the Hannah Montana Wiki, Lilly’s birthday is on March 10, 1993, therefore, she was celebrating her 16th birthday in that episode. So, it’s like her birthday party in the movie never existed. I’ve noticed that with movies based on Disney Channel TV shows, everything that happened in the film was never brought up in the show, as if the film never existed. Good Luck Charlie, It’s Christmas! (2011) is an exception because Amy announced she was pregnant, so they had to go along with it for the remainder of the series or else that would’ve been messed up. 

For entertainment, Hannah Montana: The Movie is a fun, family film with an important message and great music. But considering the show’s legacy, the movie wasn’t really necessary; heck I’d be fine if “The Climb” never existed! I’d watch the movie again for nostalgia purposes, but that’s about it. There isn’t any behind-the-scenes footage on the DVD, so that sucks too. I’d give Hannah Montana: The Movie a rating of 2.5 out of 5 stars.

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Take care and see ya real soon!

Lana