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Let It Shine
- Review Date: June 15, 2012
- Genre: Musical
- 2012
Common Sense Media says
Rousing rap-style musical has family-friendly themes.
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that Let It Shine stars familiar faces like Coco Jones (So Random!), Tyler James Williams (Everybody Hates Chris), and Brandon Mychal Smith (So Random!), so chances are your tween will want to watch it. Happily the movie lives up to Disney's straight-laced standards, balancing squeaky-clean content with a clever story that relates the classic Cyrano de Bergerac tale to a modern-day love story rooted in the hip-hop and rap culture. Expect some mild name-calling and put-downs between teens and some rebellious behavior on the part of a teen who has to break a few of his dad's rules to follow his dreams. Families will like the movie's positive messages about self-confidence, friendship, and staying true to yourself, all of which are reflected in the music on the soundtrack that's sure to be heavily marketed as well.
Based on 4 parent & educator reviews:
- 75% say sexual content is an issue
- 75% say there are positive messages
- 50% say they noticed product placement
- 50% say there are positive role models
Most useful reviews by all members
Kid, 11 years old
June 16, 2012
A Lot of Shine
Let it Shine is a very unexpected and good movie with a really good message to sponser to kids, but their is one flaw, there are some heavy themes that makes it better for kids ages ten and up. Rap, Gospel, and Hip-Hop are all in this "Dcom", so one of the families is Baptist and Cyrus' father does not like him rapping and modern day music. Consumrism is about twenty percent like mentioning Youtube, Budlight, Facebook, AFC and more. Otherwise this film is inspiring to say that you need to speak for yourself.
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Kid, 11 years old
June 15, 2012
Inspiring Disney Movie Musical
This Disney Channel Original Movie surpassed my expectations by a lot (my expectations were moderately high). I am a Christian and was impressed with the movie's strong Christian values. Good acting, good screenplay, good directing, and everything is good. Especially the music. The music is awesome. Now you can see how this movie is so great. This is my #2 Christian movie (behind Letters to God and ahead of Courageous). There is a lot of character development between the characters, especially between all the 3 main characters. Now for the parental review. This film has a lot of educational value, teaching people about music and church. There are a lot of positive messages and role models, except Da Bling, the bully rapper. There is some fighting between characters. There is some flirting and almost-kissing scenes in this movie. There is no product placement in the movie, but this movie had a huge marketing campaign with multiple music videos and a soundtrack. This movie premiered on the same day as Rock of Ages, and that is an adult musical so this is a great alternative. Go watch it!
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Teen, 14 years old
June 18, 2012
Let it shine- Best Disney Movie ever!
What I like/love:
1. The second Disney movie since 2007 to have an all African-American cast. It’s nice to see actors/actresses who look like me for once.
2. I LOVED THE STORY!
3. I loved the church theme! I’m glad Disney showed a positive image of the church for once. The pastor’s teaching reminds me of T.D Jakes for some reason. And oh my goodness, they said Jesus, God, and Christ in a Disney movie that’s almost forbidden!
4. I love rap and hip-hop. I also like every single battle rap they had, and, I know he’s the bad guy, but I liked Bling’s raps the most.
5. I love Tyler James William’s acting ever since “Everybody Hates Chris.”
6. I like Brandon Mychal Smith
What I dislike/hate:
1. I don’t know why but I somewhat got upset with Roxie toward the end of the movie. It’s understandable that she was hurt, but I think she was a bit of a drama queen.
2. I wanted Cyrus and Roxie to kiss! I guess I understand why they didn’t though… Tyler’s twenty in real life and Coco’s fifteen I think…
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Teen, 15 years old
June 25, 2012
Very good; I'd recommend it!
I think this is one of the best Disney Channel movies I've seen. It's (very loosely) based on "Cyrano de Bergerac" (that title should be italicized or underlined, but there is no option for that, so...) Of course, I liked "Cyrano" much more, but I'm a sucker for tragedy. Okay, anyway, I felt there were some really good messages in this movie, including positive Christian themes (though I doubt it would be offensive to the nonChristians, seeing as their good messages overall). There were a few things that bothered me, though. Roxy is more shallow than she appears, if you really think about it. She mistook Kris to be "Truth", because he was better looking than Cyrus. It's mentioned briefly at the very end, but isn't really thought about. Also, Kris really isn't that good of a friend. He pressures Cyrus into helping him, although eventually everything works out between them. Other than that, though, I really liked the movie, and I would definitely recommend it.
...But if you can handle tragedies, go read "Cyrano de Bergerac" after you watch this, if you haven't already.(If you couldn't tell, I'm a fangirl.)
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Kid, 9 years old
June 16, 2012
Don't let it shine. It already has!!!
The movie was fine they used some speech that was not appropriate and necessary. Like " hook-up" and they also used mean words to each other. Although it is also very good at teaching morality, friendship skills, and some basic concepts in religion like" you can't live with the lord on Sunday and the devil on Monday". But no they don't teach anything most people wouldn't agree with. The church is a Baptist church in the movie. And the movie teaches an amazing lesson about telling lies.
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Kid, 10 years old
June 25, 2012
Worst Movie Ever Didn't Go Anywhere Too Many Sexual References and Artificial Hair Coloring Which Sends Off Bad Messages Why Don't Kids Care About That and Why Can't There Be a 0-Star Option?!!!
When my mom heard "Don't Run Away," she wanted to change the channel.
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Adult
June 18, 2012
It's a win from Disney!
This was a great movie. Acting, music, plot, and everything you could want in a family-friendly DCOM.
Recommend for everyone.. parents and kids alike!
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Kid, 11 years old
June 28, 2012
dONT BOTHER
dont spend your time on this! it is very bad when it comes to good and possetive things! it uses very offense launguge. and my friend even said that when it came to the church & religon parts she wanted to turn the TV off. really it was one of the worst movies that disney could ever think of.
DISNEY YOU FAILED EPICALLY!
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Kid, 11 years old
June 26, 2012
AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is an AWESOME movie! I stayed up until 1 in the moring to watch this movie! And I barley watch disney movies but this one I really liked!
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Teen, 14 years old
June 17, 2012
Good, but not great
I saw this movie and it's pretty good. It's not the best movie, but it's still a good movie and has positive messages about being yourself and expressing yourself freely. OK for kids 9+. Educational: Based off a book, so kids might want to read it after seeing the movie. Violence: Nothing graphic, but there is a brief scuffle between 2 characters, and a girl slaps a boy for lying to her. Consumerism: There's a soundtrack available based on this movie.
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