Julie and the Phantoms Review : The series give you a great playlist but not enough logic

☆☆☆☆☆ 2.5/5

Genre: Musical; Drama

Director : Kenny Ortega

Platform : Netflix

Julie and the Phantoms comes from the same director, Kenny Ortega, who also directed the High School Musical and Descendants franchise. This is the story of Julie who has built a invisible wall between her and music since her mother’s death. Every time she even tries to sing, she recalls her mother and she instantly stops. Then enters three Phantoms namely Luke, Reggie and Alex in Julie’s Mother’s studio. Together they rediscover their passion for music.

First things first, the songs in this series are to look forward too. The well-choreographed songs with heartfelt lyrics makes you exhilarated, groove and sometimes even makes you cry.

A particular scene, where one of the Phantoms scares Julie’s over-protective aunt away is as comical as when the Phantoms get scared by people dressed as Ghostbusters. The series does has some feel-good moments. In particular Luke’s story is the most touching out of all, which is complemented by the song ‘Unsaid Emily’.

What Julie and the Phantoms falls short off is its script. It takes some time to build up the story and when it does, the story lines are either given an obvious ending or is cut shorted. I feel the script writers have left a lot of plot lines ambiguous, which may or may not get cleared in the next seasons. Not much explanation/logic is given in the end which makes us even more unsatisfied with the story.

One more shortcoming is the characters. One of the most faulty character is of the villain. The villain has the most shrewd and cunning expressions and obviously a villainy smile. What he doesn’t have is a powerful motive. What is a villain without a powerful motive? Even Julie’s character isn’t given much focus. Her character remains on the surface and conveys the story through pure dialogs.

I couldn’t end the review without mentioning, two of the my favourite characters who steals the show (and they are not the protagonist, sadly). First is Judie’s best friend Flynn, who supports her, fights with her and just compensates the mediocrely written script and protagonists. And there is Julie’s caring and loving  father, who pampers the kids but also grounds his kids if they are up to any mischief. These are the only two characters who gives an impact on the overall story.

Watch Julie and the Phantoms for its good songs, for its feel-good scenes and if you are up for a mediocre script.