Forget about High School Musical 2. Skip over the wild retro era of Grease and there you’ll land up in, Baltimore. In the seeming peaceful town of Maryland, you will meet the main character Tracy Turnblad (Nikki Blonsky).
The story is about how Tracy chases her dream of being a singing and dancing performer on the most watched TV programme; Corny Collins (James Marsden) Show. In the midst of it, you’ll find the usual story of love, frustration, disappointment, racism and a happy ending. What do you expect from a show set back in the 60s.
I’m no movie critic and most definetely not a die-hard moviegoer of all genres. So this review is based on my personal views and opinions while I was in the cinema, seated in my comfortable chair and watching it on the big screen.
As you already know, the story is about Tracy but what you may not know is the movie is like a musical. If you’ve watched Grease, it’s a little less of John Travolta swinging his hips. If you’ve watched High School Musical, it’s less jumping and playing with balls. Hairspray really takes you back to when product endorsements were the biggest thing in the industry. It was also like the start of having the most famous or iconic celebrities becomes spokesperson for leading brands.
And back then, shops weren’t called Nike or Topman but Mr.Pinky’s Hefty Hideaway Store. Besides the bopping beats of retro days and dancing steps of the twist, the music sounded really good. Half the time I either felt like tapping to it or join in and just bounce around. It was literally a time when you just…swing it.
I’m not going to touch on the soppy love story of this movie as it’s the common thing you will see today. However, I think what movies like this really impress me with is the fact they reenact history itself. Now I know during the 60s in USA, the African Americans were treated unfairly because of their color.
It really made me think how Malaysia too was in something like this and still might be. Though it isn’t so obvious during the day. Anyhow, I personally think our local film production companies need to address our history in this manner.
Although the people at the film department may not like the idea, I believe an education in a movie like this is a great education and reminder to the audience. At least we could be saying, “Hey, Tunku Abdul Rahman really was a cool cat!” The other thing I ought to mention is these historical movies should be dubbed in English. The two main reasons is because English is the most used language international and who knows, it’ll receive better viewing numbers in Western countries.
In conclusion, if you’re looking for a good movie to just let go or start the weekend then Hairspray is worth watching. Oh, it is a bit weird seeing John Travolta as a woman. *LOL* The cast are as follows (Actor/Actress as Character):
- Tracy Turnblad as Nikki Blonsky
- John Travolta as Edna Turnblad
- Michelle Pfeiffer as Velma von Tussle
- Christopher Walken as Wilbur Turnblad
- Amanda Bynes as Penny Lou Pingleton
- James Marsden as Cornelius “Corny Collins”
- Queen Latifah as “Motormouth” Maybelle Stubbs
- Brittany Snow as Amber Velma von Tussle
- Zac Efron as Link Matthew Larkin
- Elijah Kelley as Seaweed Joseph Stubbs
- Allison Janney as Prudence “Prudy” Pingleton
- Jerry Stiller as Mr. Pinky
- Paul Dooley as Mr. Harriman F. Spritzer
- Taylor Parks as Little Inez Stubbs
I really liked how they did the poster. It brought back the retro feel with its dots and colours. Not to mention the greasy hair. Come to think of it, why would they need hairspray that time when they already had a head of grease. *shrug* I tried my hand at making something like it. Though my hair isn’t as greasy, I think the results turnout not too bad with just using a webcam.
Question of the day:
Which of the these movies have you watched?
- Grease
- High School Musical
- Hairspray
- None of the above
[tags]Hairspray movie, movie review, movie musical[/tags]
Thinking big is exactly what this extravaganza of a musical does to perfection, as it brings the Broadway musical hit to the screen with aerosol cans filled with energy, joy and star power
Speaking of aerosol cans, I was quite shocked on how much aerosol was in the air during the era. Our poor Mother Nature.