1st watched 5/13/2023 - (Dir-Craig Shapiro):
Mostly lame, although watch-able near the end in this Mary Kate & Ashley late offering for the twins. They kind of follow the pattern of the Disney film "The Parent Trap" in this one as sisters from across the continent living with divorced mom and dad meet un-expectantly by both applying to be in the reality game show called "The Challenge." Thru a marketing gimmick, the producers decide it would be good for ratings for both to be on the program, and in a weird twist - are also put on the same team. They haven't seen each other for 4 years and don't like each other at all. The producers figure the conflict will bring up ratings. This conflict initially make's their team not do well, but after each challenge - they start learning from each other and start connecting again and the team flourishes. There are the typical romantic things happening - with a nice montage at the end bringing back boyfriends from other movies - making me wonder if this is their last. Also - the tension of the last challenge with Mary Kate & Ashley facing their biggest fears brings the movie out of the "really bad" to "ok" fare. There is never much deep in any of these movies - which is expected, but they definetly have appealed to some to last this long. Not for me, though - and I'm probably not the target audience, either.
Review of The Challenge
