Stereotypes are avoided, and although Vanessa Hudgens feels miscast as the class loner, you forgive her during the blistering musical finale.

Both Aly Michalka and Vanessa Hudgens are musicians, which makes the rehearsal and performance segments convincing. They also possess beauty and presence, and yet look plausible.

...Bandslam captures the way young people too smart and pop-culture-savvy for their own good let the music and movies they love define them during adolescence’s crucible of humiliation and self-doubt.