Wizard-8 Apart from the fact that this movie looks slicker and more technically accomplished than the original 1980 "Fame" movie, this remake is inferior to the original in every way you can think of. Of all the problems in the movie, I think the worst is the fact that NONE of the characters - students or teachers - is fleshed out sufficiently. The movie crams in so many characters that it doesn't have time to follow any for a decent length. The lack of a human angle probably explains why the movie doesn't have any bite - I remember the original movie had more grit and drama. This even extends to the musical/dance numbers - the music is instantly forgettable and the dancing is at its best mediocre. What the movie ends up being is very boring, even if you choose to watch the theatrical cut over the extended cut. Stick with the original movie.

CJBx7 My initial impression of the 2009 remake of "Fame" was favorable, having seen only the scene where the failed ballet dancer contemplated taking his life in a subway station. I was impressed by the directorial style, where everything around him faded into a distant noise as he became overwhelmed by his feelings of hopelessness and futility. This is, unfortunately, the most striking scene of the whole movie, and not really enough to justify sitting through it for a whole two hours (I saw the "Extended Dance Edition"). If the rest of the movie would have been made with the same care, it would have been much more resonant and enjoyable. Unfortunately it was not, and this is why I was so disappointed with it.Upon viewing the complete movie from the beginning, I was taken with director Kevin Tancharoen's use of the cinema verité style in order to give the movie more of a documentary feeling. Unfortunately, his attempts at realism were severely undermined by the flat, one- dimensional characters, clichéd situations, and (for me) underwhelming dance and musical production numbers. Add to this the fact that the rather sloppily written screenplay attempts to cover too much ground for the movie's running time, trying to focus on so many characters that I was not able to really connect in a substantial way with any of them. The movie ultimately has a rather sterile, detached feel to it, and I found it difficult to really care about the characters because they came across as stock types (the shy, naïve starlet who comes this close to be taken advantage of, the angry inner city black youth, the selfish dancer who only cares about stardom). The production numbers did not impress me either, although Naturi Naughton did display an impressive vocal range and stage presence. This is especially worrisome to me, as I watched the "Extended Dance Edition". None of the dance numbers really stayed with me...I've seen better on shows like "Britain's Got Talent".The more experienced actors (Kelsey Grammar, Bebe Neuwirth, Charles Dutton, Megan Mullaly, and Debbie Allen) had little to do except for portray the teachers, which also come off as your typical authoritative/mean/condescending/inspirational stock types. The younger actors are fine in their roles, although not outstandingly charismatic or memorable. I can't really complain about the acting, though, since the script is so poorly conceived the actors simply don't have much to work with. Not even Meryl Streep and Laurence Olivier could have saved this one.One thing I did notice was a direct rip-off of a scene from "Mr. Holland's Opus", which is, in my mind, a far superior film whose characters truly resonate with the audience - a student does a rendition of the old Gershwin standard "Someone to Watch Over Me," and is instructed by the teacher that she needs to have a better grasp of what the words mean. The scene is slightly different here, but couldn't they have at least have chosen a different song? This, to me, is symbolic of what is wrong with this movie - lazy, formulaic plotting, stock characterizations, and a poorly conceived script. There are so many characters on display that at the end of the movie, I didn't know what happened to all of them. What happened to the aspiring director at the end? Or the dancer's best friend (and it was news to me that they were friends until the end of the movie?) The filmmakers didn't even so much as put an epilogue on the end that you could read in order to figure out what became of the characters. Overall, I felt like the movie was a waste of my time. Disappointing.

rastogisaurab29 Verdict : Flashy Movie, 3 Stars today after so many days, today I watched a movie (Fame (2009)) and I must say though this movie does not meet the original version of 1980 nor does bring any new contents or slapstick performances but kind of makes you glued to your seat until the students reach their junior year. Fame kind of reminds one of their undergraduate years and the fact that even a movie can be made about some interesting school years. Though this film never goes into any details and rather places a collage of the various things that we have already seen at various places and the only people this movie will perfectly fit to are the ones who have almost no knowledge of dance, acting or movies.NOTE: All my reviews are available at http://rastogisaurab29.wordpress.com/category/tv-and-movies/movie- reviews/ OR http://www.imdb.com/user/ur39556023/comments?order=date

Dazz Camponi If any of you are wondering, this is not like High School Musical. Shockingly, this is a very good remake (well, I wouldn't say it's a remake but an updated version but many people call it a remake). The students are very likable and the acting is so-so, the actress who stuck out with her fantastic singing voice was Naturi Naughton and her version of the songs "Out Here On My Own" and "Fame" were brilliant. The dance sequences were phenomenal and actually made you want to get off your seat and join them. The storyline was good and it sent the usual message this type of movie sends and delivers the whole 'you can make it if you believe in you' message which worked as it would in this movie.I'm genuinely surprised as this was better than I expected it to be but it's not better than the original. My criticisms are that one or two of the actors had their moments of great acting and then it went to poor however this wouldn't put you off the movie as the singing and dancing triumphs. Another criticism is that there wasn't enough Naturi Naughton for me, I wanted to hear her sing more, her voice is phenomenal! For me, I thought it was fantastic and I'm shocked at how much I liked it. If you're a fan of the 80's Fame, then you'll love this! This is two hours of feel-good fun.Read more reviews at: www.dudedazzmoviereviews.wordpress.com