Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience
The Jonas Brothers - aka good Christian boys Joe, Nick and Kevin - are an impeccably styled, multi-million dollar global phenomenon.
The Jonas Brothers - aka good Christian boys Joe, Nick and Kevin - are an impeccably styled, multi-million dollar global phenomenon.
The siblings are pin-ups for an entire generation of excitable teenagers and the embodiment of modern family values, wearing purity rings to affirm their belief in no sex before marriage.
Fans around the world put Joe, Nick and Kevin on pedestals.
Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience does it literally, hoisting the singers 20 feet above the heads of squealing fans on tiny, circular platforms as the boys belt out 'Hello Beautiful'.
Directed by Bruce Hendricks, this energetic concert film recorded live at Madison Square Gardens in New York polishes the Jonas brand to an even squeakier clean.
A tongue-in-cheek pre-credits sequence begins with bodyguard 'Big Rob' Feggans waking the brothers in their interconnected Trump Tower hotel rooms shortly before the entourage heads for the gig.
With rush hour traffic at gridlock, the brothers squeeze through the sunroof and sprint through the city streets with screaming fans in hot pursuit.
Toe curling tomfoolery dispensed with, the rest of the film intercuts on-stage performances with backstage shenanigans including a gratuitous shot of the boys in their changing area.
Joe hurriedly removes his sweaty shirt then suddenly remembers the camera leering at his every move.
Girls in the audience will not be complaining, of course.
Interviews with fanatical concertgoers, who can barely contain their joy ('Seriously, I'm going to throw up!'), are spliced with footage of the brothers playing sport, rehearsing and practising back flips and tumbles.
A segment with the fake Jonas Brothers is an amusing diversion.
'They're living the dream, we're dreaming the life,' quips one of the imitators.
A montage of one day's promotional activities (an appearance on Good Morning America, a radio show interview, record launch and in-store listening party) hammers home how hard the trio works to maintain visibility in a crowded marketplace.
A couple of special appearances break up the feast of Jonas: Demi Lovato sings 'This Is Me' with Joe, their duet from TV film Camp Rock, and Taylor Swift outperforms them all with the catchy 'Should've Said No'.
The 3D technology is used sparingly: sunglasses, a drumstick, plectrums and onstage pyrotechnics all appear to fly out of the screen and during an audience sing-along, Joe thrusts the microphone at the camera for us to join in.
When they are not waving an undulating sea of glow sticks, youngsters in the concert hall swoon with delight at the lads' onstage antics, even when they unleash hoses of white foam.
No doubt there will be hordes of girls foaming at the mouth at the prospect of Joe, Nick and Kevin singing mostly in tune in Hendricks' film.
Parents should be thankful their suffering clocks in at 76 minutes.
Release Date: Friday 29 May 2009
Certificate: U
Runtime: 76mins
