Netflix's 'Julie And The Phantoms': Review

It may not be the start of something new but with this toe-tapping, profound and highly addictive musical, Kenny Ortega gives Netflix their own High School Muscial

Madison Reyes leads 'Julie and The Phantoms' (CREDIT: Netflix)

                    by Jack Linsdell

In 2006, Kenny Ortega's High School Musical became the most viewed Disney Channel original ever with 7.7 million viewers in it's premiere broadcast. Working as a modern day riff on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet and being the epitome of every teenager's dream high school experience, the Zac Efron/Vanessa Hudgens/Ashley Tisdale flick became a cultural event for a whole generation of kids. Director and choreographer Kenny Ortega was largely responsible for the unique identity (and thus popularity) of the movie, using his extensive background in concerts to push the boundaries of what a musical looked, felt and sounded like. Well, 12 years after the trilogy concluded with High School Musical 3: Senior Year, Ortega is doing it again...except this time for Netflix. 

Julie and The Phantoms is exactly the sort of entertainment folks want (and need) right now. It's a joyous, uplifting and very optimistic piece of musical escapism, with plenty of catchy songs, excellent character work and family-friendly content. The show may not reinvent the genre or be high art, but the Netflix Original most certainly works as a sort of contemporary approximation of Disney's High School Musical. That makes Ortega's involvement as an executive producer (and director of five episodes) both grimly ironic and a massive part of the show's success. Anyway, Julie and The Phantoms certainly proves Netflix has a better understanding of the marketplace and audience's viewing needs than the likes of Warner Bros. and Christopher Nolan. Look, all good intentions aside, Tenet was not the film that audiences wanted to return to when cinemas reopened. Had the filmmaker made Tenet: The Musical rather than the cold, clinical and confusing actioner released one month ago, we may actually be looking at some form of box office recovery. 

Anyway, back to the show. Created and executive produced by Dan Cross and David Hoge, Julie and The Phantoms begins briefly in 1995 as we meet an emerging rock band called Sunset Curve made up of lead singer Luke (Craig Gillespie), drummer Alex (Owen Patrick Joyner) and guitarist Reggie (Jeremy Shada). After eating a dodgy hotdog, the trio unexpectantly die just hours before the biggest gig of their careers, one which was all but guaranteed to get them signed by an agent. In the present day, we're introduced to introverted teen Julie (Madison Reyes), whose lacking all her former confidence and passion for music since the tragic death of her mother last year. Anyway, when the boys return as ghosts and Julie discovers she's the only one that can see them, they form a new band - Julie and The Phantoms. As the Phantoms help Julie discover her zest for life and music again, she helps them fulfil their unfilled destiny as musicians destined for great success. 

The nine-part musical drama is most certainly designed as a singular feature-film narrative, that just happens to be broken down into sections (episodes). That's not a criticism, more of an observation that the climax of each episode feels more like a forced "fade out" rather than planned cliffhanger. Anyway, the story is the sort of "harmless for kids but nuanced and layered for adults" family-friendly entertainment made popular by the likes of Disney and Pixar, working as a sort of "High School Musical meets Jumanji and Bumblebee" hybrid. The film is fantastical enough in it's main premise to constitute as escapism from the real-world, yet to it's credit never runs away with it nor loses it's immense relatability either. The show most definitely takes you on a journey across the nine episodes and where it ends most certainly leaves a sense of longing in the viewer for an (almost inevitable) second season. 

Madison Reyes steals the screen as Julie, bringing a vibrancy and energy to the role, yet in a very understated, natural and mature way. That's even more impressive when you know she was only 15-come-16 when the show was actually filmed. Reyes has an amazing voice and most certainly heaps of acting talent and dance ability, making her one of the future stars to watch. Reyes helps make Julie feel like a real and very relatable teenager, someone who a lot of young girls should be able to relate too. Carlos Ponce (who was brilliant in Couples Retreat) excels once more here as Julie's Dad, the two sharing great chemistry on screen and number of highly moving scenes too. As for the band, and all three young actors exude charisma and warmth, the musical numbers showcasing their talent for performance and the witty dialogue displaying their immense comic timing. Gillespie, Joyner and Shada all have top notch chemistry with Reyes, and for that matter one another, hitting every single note or emotional beat with perfection. As High School Musical showed, musicals most often uncover some of the best undiscovered young talent and Julie and The Phantoms is no exception. 

If bones were to be picked then the show is at it's worst when it's trying to (at times) blatantly homage or honour the legacy of Ortega's High School Musical. Julie's school nemesis Carrie (Savannah May) is such an obvious homage to Ashley Tisdale's much-loved Sharpay that it becomes almost laughable. That's to take nothing away from May, whose a fine young actress, with heaps of performance/dance talent as demonstrated by two Bop To The Top-inspired musical numbers. But, Carrie is largely redundant not only as a character but as a source of conflict for the story too. In fact, Cheyenne Jackson's villianous Caleb Connington makes far more of an entertaining and refreshing antagonist as the owner to a mysterious Ghost music club. Anyway, when the show is focussed on the relationship between Julie and The Phantoms, the show hits all the high notes, packing many laughs, lots of emotional punch and plenty of engrossing drama. 

The songs are at least as catchy as those in The Greatest Showman, with particular highlights including "Wake Up", "Edge of Great" and "Stand Tall". I promise you they'll get stuck in your head pretty quickly, which is kind of the base test for a musical's soundtrack anyway. The songs most definitely complement the story in emotive ways, mixing toe-tapping and feel-good production, with poignant and inspiring lyrics, to form the perfect mix of uplift and drama. Reyes and Jackson are particularly impressive singers, showcasing their sublime vocal ranges and abilities in a range of very musically different tracks. Ortega once again impresses here, cementing himself alongside Bill Condon and Adam Shankman as a musical filmmaker genius. Julie and The Phantoms is packed with highly immersive and character-driven musical numbers, which not only capture the essence of the "moment" through inventive choreography and camerawork, but also put on the best, biggest and brightest show possible for the audience. We have low-key and subtly done numbers like "Wake Up" in episode one (which may be one of my favourite ever) and then the big-scaled, ensemble, spectacle-heavy sequences like "The Other Side of Hollywood". Ortega was a big part of why High School Musical was such a success and it looks like he gets the same distinction here too. 

I do hope Netflix renews for season two because Julie and The Phantoms was a highly addictive and immensely fun watch, and exactly the sort of light escapism I needed. Okay, the show may not be perfect, but it certainly packs a greater emotional punch than you'd expect from a kid-targeted show. Hell, episode 8 had me bawling my eyes out when Julie and the boys went to visit Luke's grieving parents. 

Look, Julie and The Phantoms may be Netflix's very own High School Musical hit. Sure, it may never be as popular as those movies became, but with catchy songs, talented young stars, lovable characters and awesome staging courtesy of Kenny Ortega, it might just stand a chance of breaking free. 

5/5 STARS