In the new film, Mitchie (Lovato) is eager to return to Camp Rock, the summer music camp where she came into her own, and meet up with the friends she made the previous summer. At the same time, music stars Shane, Nate and Jason (Joe, Nick and Kevin Jonas) are excited to get off the road and away to the camp. Shane, especially, wants to spend as much time with Mitchie, the girl he met when he was forced to work at Camp Rock. What the camp rockers don’t expect is the opening of a slick, new musical camp (alas, only in a fantasy music would there be two music camps across the lake from each other) has drummed up some serious competition for Camp Rock.

Camp Star, the rival camp, threatens the future of Camp Rock’s existence. The only way to solve the differences between the two camps is with a live musical competition in which fans can vote for the best camp. Alright! With a storyline that could have come right out of the Mick and Judy book of movie musicals, Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam is fun and enjoyable for the entire family.

The success of this film comes from the skilled performances of the four leads. Lovato and the Jonas brothers have all spend hundreds of hours in front of TV cameras since the last Camp Rock movie and the experience has made all of them better actors. While Lovato has natural screen presence, it’s the brothers Jonas who are the most improved. Their performances in the earlier film were kind of wooden and forced, but the three brothers look much more at home when acting. Joe and Demi have some palpable chemistry in the romance department; I believe they were dating at the time. Kevin proves that he actually good at something besides being the backup singer. The eldest Jonas brother shows some comic flair in the movie, especially in his scenes with young campers.

While Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam is not great art, it is great pop entertainment. The musical numbers are all wonderfully choreographed and the songs are all catchy, with a variety of styles throughout. Don’t be surprised if you find yourself humming a couple of them soon after the credits have rolled.

Bonus features on the DVD include the extended version of the film that contains two exclusive music sequences and the “Rock Along” version of the movie, with puts the lyrics up on screen during the movie. The Blu-ray has additional featurettes, one that introduces the new stars in the film and another that has music videos. Disney continues to lead the competition with their Blue-ray/DVD/Digital Combo packs. By including all three formats in one package, Disney is catering to the needs of all of their fans. People who don’t have Blu-ray players yet won’t have to go out and purchase a new copy of the movie if/when they step into the high def era. I like that a lot. There’s nothing more annoying than owning a huge collection of movies and having to replace it as soon as you get the latest technical gadget.

The official synopsis of the film is as follows: The tale of Disney’s favorite fairy, Tinker Bell, continues in an all-new magical adventure beyond Pixie Hollow! Discover how the Pixies make their magic dust! Let your imagination soar as Autumn comes to Pixie Hollow. Take off in a hot air balloon with Tinker Bell and her new friend Blaze, a lightning bug who lights her way, on an enchanting secret journey to find a new moonstone, the source of the Pixies mystical dust. But hold on tight! There’ll be amazing encounters, some close calls, and a daring rescue by her old friend Terence! In her biggest adventure yet, Tinker Bell not only learns a lesson in responsibility, she discovers the true meaning of friendship. From the creators of Tinker Bell, ‘Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure’ is a captivating journey of self-discovery everyone will want to take.

You could hardly ask for a character more designed to appeal to a young female demographic than Tinker Bell, but Disney has fashioned something of a unisex adventure out of Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure, pumping up the action-adventure quotient by sending Tink (Mae Whitman) on a dangerous quest and giving her a male foil in Terence (Jesse McCartney), the quasi-love interest who experiences the sting of her hot-tempered wrath when his well-intentioned bumbling jeopardizes her big chance at proving her maturity to the queen (Huston). It isn’t necessarily the kind of movie you’d think of when you hear the words “fairy adventure,” in other words — but even if it sounds like something the boys in marketing cooked up, Lost Treasure is actually a lot of fun, thanks to a breezy screenplay by Evan Spiliotopoulos and a charming supporting cast that includes the voices of Kristin Chenoweth, Lucy Liu, and Raven-Symone. At 80 minutes, it’s too quick to wear out its welcome, and the CG animation — particularly when viewed in 1080p — is loaded with eye-popping moments.

It’ll still be easy for the cynics in the audience to dismiss Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure as a Disney cash grab — and hey, at bottom, that’s probably what it really is — but as these things go, it’s head and wings above the pack.

The Lost Treasure Blu-ray, like others in Disney’s hi-def line, comes with a DVD that includes the film — and, in this case, all the bonus content, such as a series of “bloopers,” a guide to Tinker Bell’s home of Pixie Hollow, and a music video starring Demi Lovato, who clearly hasn’t realized that her recent Number One album means she’s too big to be wasting her time singing home-market soundtrack piffle like “Gift of a Friend.” All of it’s entertaining enough, but the real draw, as it should be, is the main feature, which proves a worthy successor to the first installment, does a fine job of setting up the next of Disney’s three announced sequels, and provides just under an hour and a half of dazzling family entertainment. The studio really has it down to a science at this point — but if it were as easy as they make it look, everyone would be making ‘em this good.

Sonny with a Chance: Sonny’s Big Break (2009, Disney)

Disney’s Sonny with a Chance is cut from the same cloth as the mouse house’s other tween sitcoms: bright, pretty young ingénue thrown into a crazy situation and surrounded by an ensemble of wacky supporting characters. In this case, the female star is Demi Lovato; the budding young music star that also has appeared in the Disney hit films, Rock Camp and Princess Protection Program. Lovato plays Sonny; she’s a Midwestern teenager brought to Los Angeles to become the newest star on “So Random,” a sketch show that resembles the old Nickelodeon series, All That. With her wide-eyed optimism and Midwestern gosh oh golly, Mickey and Judy “let’s put on a show” enthusiasm, Sonny is a fish out of water and immediately at odds with “So Random’s” other so L.A. starlet, Tawni (Tiffany Thornton). Tawni is a bratty teen whose ice cool heart is eventually melted by Sonny and they soon become fast friends.

The remainder of the “So Random” cast includes the Mutt & Jeff duo, Nico (Brandon Mychal Smith) and Grady (Doug Brochu). Smith and Brochu are great with the one liners and willing to make fools of themselves. They’re my favorite characters. There is also the standard “bratty little sister” character, this time in the form of Zora (Allisyn Ashley Arm), the youngest cast member. While “So Random” is very popular, it competes for an audience with “Mackenzie Falls,” a sort of Gossip Girl soap opera staring a group of prima donnas. Their leader is Chad Dylan Cooper (a funny Sterling Knight), who is so full of himself, he can’t pass a mirror without looking. Chad loves getting the better of the “So Random” gang, but has a hard time breaking Sonny’s spirit. This confuses him and strangely, makes him drawn to the girl.

Lovato is excellent in the title role. She seems game for anything the writers throw at her and she imbues her character with dignity and self-confidence. Sonny is not a snob and her intentions always seem to be good; she’s never out to “get” anyone. Moreover, unlike some of the other girl stars on Disney, Sonny seems like the kind of kid you’d trust to babysit your kids and not try to sneak out of the house to meet her boyfriend. As for the rest of the cast, they have grown more comfortable working together and exhibit all of the charms and strengths of a good comedy ensemble. As an adult, not all of the material tickles my fancy, but my children sure enjoy the show, so the producers must be doing something right.

Because of Sonny with a Chance’s set up, the audience is treated to the show within a show and sometime we get to see the “So Random” sketches. Think of this series as 30 Rock for kids. The skits will either make you groan because they’re so bad, or they will make you burst out laughing; there is no middle ground. My favorite sketch (and one that had my daughter searching for it online) is the “Check It Out” girls, a couple of cashiers who begin each sentence with the phrase, “check it out.” At first it was annoying, but after the fourth time watching it with my daughter I started laughing with her (and using the phrase, too).

I believe that watching the show with your kids is the key. Given the opportunity to view programming they find entertaining is a good way to begin communicating with them about quality and crap. I would rank Sonny with a Chance with the former. It has displayed growth since the first episode, as the four episodes on this DVD show. The DVD has some bonus features including Demi Lovato’s audition and the online short, “Mackenzie Falls – Season Finale Cliffhanger. More importantly, a never before seen episode, “Sonny in the Middle,” is included.

Princess Protection Program (2009, Disney)

When the DVD for Disney’s latest, Princess Protection Program arrived at the house, my daughter could hardly contain herself. The constant ads on the Disney Channel and the casting of TV stars Selena Gomez (Wizards of Waverly Place) and Demi Lovato (Sonny with a Chance) made it seem like this film was going to be a tweenage masterpiece, or at least something fun. On a Sunday morning while her mom and brother slept in, my daughter and I snuggled up on the couch and watched Princess Protection Program.

In the film, Lovato is a Princess Rosalinda, next in line to the throne of Costa Luna. When her country is overthrown by an evil dictator, she is put into the Princess Protection Program, a secret organization funded by royal families to protect their daughters. She is saved by Joe Mason (Tom Verica) an agent for the PPP, who takes her into hiding in his own home. His home is in rural Louisiana where he’s raising his teenage daughter, Carter (Gomez) on his own. That’s right, the Masons come from a long line of Disney families without a mother figure. That means that Carter is a tomboy and an outcast in her school. Still, she has one guy who really likes her, Ed (Nicholas Braun), but Carter is too blind to see how much Ed, her best friend likes him, because she has a thing for Donny (Robert Adamson), a rich snob.

Rosalinda enters the Mason home and takes up the name Rosie, in hopes to be seen as a normal teenager. But, since she is royalty, she has been written as a stiff lipped, proper speaking aristocrat. This is supposed to set up jokes about the differences in classes, but you’ll find yourself saying, “Man, I’ve seen this a thousand times before, and better.” As the film progresses, Rosie and Carter become close friends and go to the school dance together. Eventually Carter realizes how great Ed is and how much of a jerk Donny is and Rosie is able to turn the tomboy Carter into a princess herself (all through the magic of a shopping montage).

Honestly, I didn’t expect much. I’m no fan of Miss Gomez; I find her acting abilities limited. And Miss Lovato, while charming on her own sitcom, grates my nerves whenever she opens her mouth to sing. Still, I’m not who this movie is intended for, which is why I sat down with my daughter. As with any film or TV show I review for Dadnabbit, I do my best to get a reaction from the people these shows are aimed at. For the first time in as long as I can remember, my daughter and I agreed on how bad a movie was. It wasn’t just the acting, or the writing that left plot holes as large as Demi Lovato’s smile. Not, it was that the whole package felt like it was thrown together for the sole purpose of capitalizing on the growing fame of these two young stars and their real-life friendship. Worse, the movie was boring, the worst crime you can commit with a 10-year-old girl. When your daughter starts asking questions about the logic of a movie or catching continuity errors, people, you screwed up.

Is there any reason to rush out and buy this DVD for your kids? No. Disney will rerun the movie for years to come and the bonus music video has already been playing on the Disney Channel. My suggestion if you really want a decent DVD is to buy the Hatching Pete/ Dadnapped release that came out earlier this year.