WALKING ON SUNSHINE (2014)

Genre: Musical/Romance
Director: Max Giwa, Dania Pasquini
Cast: Annabel Scholey, Hannah Arterton, Giulio Berruti, Katy Brand, Greg Wise, Leona Lewis
RunTime: 1 hr 38 mins
Rating: PG (Some Sexual References)
Released By: Shaw
Official Website: http://www.walkingonsunshinethemovie.co.uk

Opening Day: 10 July 2014

Synopsis: After a whirlwind romance, Maddie, fresh from a long term relationship, is preparing to marry gorgeous Raf and has invited her sister Taylor to the wedding in Italy. Unbeknownst to Maddie, however, Raf is Taylor's ex-holiday flame, and the love of her life...and that is just one of the set-backs on their road to happy ever after…

Movie Review:

From the moment Hannah Arterton appears on screen at a sun-kissed beach in the seaside Italian town of Puglia to the strings of Madonna’s ‘Holiday’, you know exactly what sort of time you’re in for. Yes, if you don’t yet know, the title of this musical is taken from the hit song (and album) of the same name by Katrina and the Waves, but why the filmmakers decided to name their movie after this song and not say the fifteen other 1980s tunes which its actors sing and dance to is anybody’s guess.

Anyhow, it’s no secret that ‘Streetdance’ directors Max Giwa and Dania Pasquini are banging on nostalgia to lure audiences to their fairy tale summer romance, packing it wall to wall with classic pop hits including ‘It Must Have Been Love’, ‘Eternal Flame’, ‘Girls Just Wanna Have Fun’ and ‘If I Could Turn Back Time’. Intuitively, it seems that Max and Dania (as they are billed in the movie) are specifically targeting the middle-aged crowd who grew up with these tunes and probably still sing them at KTV sessions; but even those for whom the tunes are a generational gap away will probably have heard them at least once or twice playing on some jukebox.

There are no originals here; instead, like the big-screen version of ‘Mamma Mia!’, Max and Dania boldly get their cast to do the covers for these tunes, although the result of that is somewhat mixed. Among them, Hannah (sister to Gemma) Arterton is positively unremarkable, no better than what you would expect from your neighbour in the shower. Ditto for Italian star Giulio Berruti, whom it is apparent was clearly chosen for his swoon-worthy looks than for any actual singing or acting ability. Thankfully, the supporting stars Annabel Scholey, Katy Brand and 2006 X Factor winner Leona Lewis pick up much of the slack, each one better singers than Arterton and Berruti combined.

The same can be said of their dancing, which has half the energy of any one of them ‘High School Musical’ or ‘Glee’ routines. None of the actors are dancers in their own right, and to their credit, each one does try his or her darndest to look like they are having a good time moving to the beat of the music; unfortunately, there is something just too static about Litza Bixler’s choreography as well as Philipp Blaubach’s cinematography, so much so that the sequences rarely find the toe-tapping groove to which they aspire to. Not that there aren’t some good ones - in particular, you’ll find ‘The Power of Love’, ‘Girls Just Wanna Have Fun’ and ‘Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go’ more inspired than the staging of the rest.

If it doesn’t seem as if we’ve paid much attention to the plot, well let’s just say that the less said about it the better. As with most musicals, storytelling comes secondary to the song and dance sequences and in fact serves only to transition from one sequence to another. That same criticism may very well be applied to Joshua St Johnston’s shamelessly derivative screenplay, which sets up a love triangle between Arterton and Scholey who play sisters Taylor and Maddie that fall in love with the same guy Raf (Berruti) on the occasion of the latter’s surprise whirlwind wedding with him. From the very first moment Maddie’s ex (Greg Wise) pops up, you can pretty much guess just what sort of happily-ever-after you’re going to get.

But that’s the least of our gripes really; because we’re willing to accept it for the guilty pleasure it aims to provide. Yet even on that level, the singing is just above par, the dancing not quite as energetic and the mood not even as infectious as it should be. No matter the cheesy group dancing or slapstick humour, ‘Walking on Sunshine’ is good only if you are in desperate need for a jukebox collection of your favourite 80s tunes. Indeed, we’ll tell you this - there’s not much to ‘go-go’ gaga about here. 

Movie Rating:

(Unless you can’t find a jukebox of classic 80s pop tunes you really want to listen to, there’s little reason to go-go to this musical chick-flick of mediocre singing and dull choreography)

Review by Gabriel Chong