If you’re anything like us, then you must’ve been super bummed out when Universal Pictures release the first trailer for “Jem and the Holograms” back in May. In fact, it sent a great shock through our systems and not even in a good way, we have to admit.
At that time, we felt like the movie was doomed.
Like everyone else, we were expecting to see lots of glitter and proper references from the original 80s animated TV show of the same name. “Jem and the Holograms” the cartoon series centred on one Jerrica Benton, a young lady who adopts the persona of Jem and becomes the lead singer of the rock group, “Jem and the Holograms” with the help of a holographic computer named Synergy. The band was made out of:
- Jerrica Benton, lead singer
- Kimber Benton, Jerrica’s younger sister, keyboardist, and main songwriter for the band
- Aja Leith, guitarist
- Shana Elmsford, who plays the synth drums
Aja and Shana are also childhood friends and adopted foster sisters of Jerrica and Kimber, having lived with the Benton family since they were young. As the series progressed, multiple rivals try to sabotage the group’s performance and unmask the identity of Jem, all in an exaggerated manner.
The movie adaptation, however, seemed to have completely reinvented the storyline.
According to Aubrey Peeples, who plays Jerrica Benton/Jem in the movie, because this movie serves as a prequel, it focuses more on Jerrica Benton/Jem’s “rise to fame” and how she handles it. The official synopsis is as follows:
As a small-town girl catapults from underground video sensation to global superstar, she and her 3 sisters begin a one-in-a-million journey of discovering that some talents are too special to keep hidden. In Universal Pictures’ “Jem and the Holograms”, 4 aspiring musicians will take the world by storm when they see that the key to creating your own destiny lies in finding your own voice.
If you worshipped Jem growing up and the first trailer managed to disappoint you as greatly as it did us, then maybe (just maybe) the second one will help “soften the blow”.
The new “Jem and the Holograms” trailer comes with the addition of Synergy, a machine of Jerrica/Jem’s late father’s invention that was a holographic computer in the series. It was supposed to be “the ultimate audio-visual entertainment synthesizer” but in the trailer, it appears to be a hologram-projecting robot that shows Jerrica/Jem home videos from her youth and beeps at her like a cute android chimp.
Also in the new trailer, Jerrica/Jem can be heard saying the trademark words, “It’s showtime, Synergy!” but whether or not she actually gets to command Synergy to project “the Jem hologram” over herself via the remote micro-projectors in her earrings (like the original cartoon series) remains unknown. At least for now.
We gotta say though that hearing her say, “It’s showtime, Synergy!” did bring tears to our eyes. Goosebumps!
Watch the second trailer below:
Directed by Jon M. Chu (“Step Up” series, “G.I. Joe: Retaliation”), the musical adventure stars Aubrey Peeples, Stefanie Scott, Aurora Perrineau, Hayley Kiyoko, Ryan Guzman, Molly Ringwald, and Juliette Lewis.
“Jem and the Holograms” is slated to be released on 23rd October 2015.
For more information, visit the movie’s official website or Facebook page.
