Unlike many other (younger) millennial women, I was never a Jonas Brothers fan. There were a few songs I didn’t mind, but I generally didn’t care for them. It was a stark contrast from a lot of the girls I went to middle school with. The Jonas Brothers were a big deal for pre-teen and teenage girls back in the late 2000s, so it was popular and “normal” for girls my age to be fans of them.
I had several friends who loved them, and my best friend in middle school/early high school was one of them. Her favorite was Kevin, but most of my friends who liked them preferred Nick. I had another friend who liked Joe. I still remember going to school one day and seeing a group of girls I was friends with all wearing their matching Jonas Brothers shirts from their recent concert. I would support my friends’ love for the trio, but it never influenced me into liking them myself. I simply have never been a boy band kind of girl. That’s not to say I don’t like any songs by boy bands, though. I just wouldn’t consider myself a fan of any.
When A Very Jonas Christmas was officially announced for Disney+, I knew I had to watch it. But, unlike many other millennial women, I wouldn’t be watching it for the band I grew up loving. I wouldn’t be watching it to rekindle an interest from my youth. I would be watching it because of Chloe Bennet.
Like most of her fans, I know Chloe from her work as Skye/Daisy Johnson/Quake on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Her character is one of the best parts about that show, and it really showcases her growth as an actress. Since getting into the series, Chloe has become one of my favorite actors. Admittedly, the fact that she is a fellow Asian American, Chicago-born, 90s baby also just made her easy for me to like.
A Very Jonas Movie for a Very Jonas-Loving Audience
A Very Jonas Christmas is exactly what you’d expect: a cheesy, feel-good Disney Christmas movie but with the intent of catering to Jonas Brothers fans. The humor is a bit much at times, and some moments are ridiculous, but it’s not overbearing. It’s just the silliness of the genre.
The film is about the band having just finished its tour but facing various detours on the way back home for the holidays. Each brother essentially plays a caricature of himself, so the movie is in a fictional-but-obviously-reality-adjacent world. It also features their real-life wives, kids, and other family members. That made the experience kind of strange for me. The intersection of real-world aspects and made-up universe components was just a bit weird to grasp.
I may not have been a fan of the trio growing up, but I have seen both Camp Rock movies. So this wasn’t the first time I watched the Jonas Brothers. I’m also familiar enough with them to understand how the movie was created with their fans in mind. That said, I feel like you really need to be familiar with them and their roles in relation to the band to really appreciate and enjoy the film. The whole bit about Kevin wanting to sing isn’t the same if you don’t get it. I think you can still have a good time without that knowledge, but I feel like you’d be missing part of the story.
Music-wise, A Very Jonas Christmas is a good example of why some people think musicals are cheesy. The story is super serious and leans into comedy, so breaking out into song will feel as silly as it sounds. Kenny G making a cameo is as random as it seems. Nick Jonas getting into a singing battle with Andrew Barth Feldman’s character is as ridiculous as one would imagine. But it works because the movie knows that’s exactly what it’s trying to achieve.
From Chinese Pop Songs to a Christmas Ballad
As someone who was watching this movie for Chloe Bennet only, I was underwhelmed, but it was reasonable and expected. She plays Lucy Chen, Joe’s love interest and childhood friend. Now a cardiothoracic surgeon, she runs into him while on a train ride in Europe. It’s the first time they’ve seen each other since her family moved to Portland when she was 13. The two talk for a bit, and there’s a connection, but no one acts on anything.
Chloe’s character is very much just there to be a love interest. It’s not ideal for someone like me. But it’s a Jonas Brothers movie, so it’s not about her, and there was never going to too much of a focus on her, and I get that. I will say it’s nice that they make her character an intelligent, independent woman as opposed to a stereotypical hopeless, lost woman who only finds her way because of a man. The fact Lucy has just recently broken up with her now-ex-boyfriend is kind of annoying, though. She could just as easily be interested in Joe without being newly single. She doesn’t need to be getting over anyone. That detail really just exists to make the song “Feel Something” fit into the story as a duet instead of being a solo for Joe.
On that note, however, the best thing about this movie is that Chloe sings in it. So I should, technically, be grateful for the aforementioned newly single detail for Lucy. Does she sing as much as I would’ve liked? No. When I first listened to “Feel Something,” I kept wishing Joe would stop singing, because I was just trying to listen to Chloe. But, again, that’s fair. Most people know Chloe for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., but she was a Chinese pop star (using her birth name, Chloe Wang) before becoming an actress. So it was great to hear her sing again—and something besides her songs from her pop star days.
Worth the Watch?
Was Chloe enough to make me want to watch the movie again? No, probably not. I doubt I ever will. But I didn’t dislike the movie. I do think it was worth watching and giving it a shot, but it’s so oriented toward the Jonas Brothers fandom that I don’t have enough of an interest to see it again. I am glad to see Chloe work more and get back to singing, though. If anything, I’d just listen to the song again, not watch the whole film.
“Yeah. I remember that. You threw up in my JanSport.” – Lucy Chen, A Very Jonas Christmas
