"it's brisk, sincere, catchy and packed with enough heart to make returning to Camp Rock worthwhile"

There is something wonderfully reassuring about a Disney Channel Original Movie that knows exactly what it wants to be. Camp Rock 3 isn’t ashamed of being colourful, earnest, occasionally ridiculous and filled with people who are liable to burst into song at any given moment. It embraces all of that, and honestly, I had a lot of fun with it.

The film doesn’t waste time either. Once everyone gets to Camp Rock, the music starts. There is no need for a laborious build-up to something we already know is coming — this is Camp Rock, after all, and people are here to sing. From there, the film moves swiftly, makes good use of its runtime and, importantly, never becomes boring.

The returning Connect 3 haven’t simply been frozen in time since Camp Rock 2. Life has happened. Jason Gray is now a father, while the group itself has fractured and subsequently reconnected, something that inevitably mirrors the real-life journey of the Jonas Brothers. It fits beautifully with a film whose overriding theme is reconnection.

That theme extends to the five finalists, and one of the film’s biggest successes is that they gradually feel like a genuine group rather than five characters thrown together because the plot requires it.

Sage is positioned as the obvious standout — she’s front and centre on the poster — but she is refreshingly more than simply the new Mitchie. Mitchie’s original journey was about finding the confidence to stand up and reveal who she really was. Sage already has that confidence.

Instead, much of Sage’s emotional journey comes through her fractured relationship with her brother Desi. They used to be in a band together, and when that fell apart, so did something between them. Camp Rock gives them an opportunity to reconnect, while the relationships forming around them gradually bind all five finalists together.

Sage finds herself attracted to Fletch, who in turn becomes friends with Desi. Desi has feelings for Callie, with Callie also helping him learn to dance, while Cliff develops feelings for Rosie. There is romance — this is Disney, after all — but importantly, romance isn’t the only thing connecting these characters. Friendships and sibling relationships matter just as much.

Lumi Pollack’s Rosie was my personal favourite of the newcomers. Her journey is relatively simple but enormously likeable: she’s a classically trained musician who wants the freedom to break away from that world and simply rock out. There is something joyous about watching that musical liberation unfold, helped enormously by the aesthetic choices surrounding her.

Sage remains the more obvious central figure, though, and her original number “Work in Progress” is arguably this film’s equivalent of “This Is Me.” Crucially, however, the comparison doesn’t mean Sage is being positioned as a replacement Mitchie. It’s a defining musical moment for a character who already knows she belongs on the stage.

I do wish Camp Rock 3 had given us more completely original songs. Much of the soundtrack consists of remixed versions of greatest hits from the previous films, and a few more new numbers would have helped this generation establish a musical identity entirely its own.

That said, the remixes work for the particular story being told. This is a film about reconnection: Connect 3 reconnecting with one another, Sage and Desi repairing their relationship, five individuals discovering what they can create together, and Camp Rock itself reconnecting with an audience after all these years. Familiar songs being rediscovered and reshaped by a new generation therefore feels thematically appropriate rather than simply nostalgic.

Not everything holds up quite as well. The antagonist’s plan is remarkably thin. Without venturing into spoiler territory, if you really wanted to stitch up five finalists using social media, using your own phone to do it probably isn’t the most sophisticated way to avoid suspicion. It’s one of those pieces of Disney plotting that works considerably better if you don’t interrogate it too closely.

The absence of Uncle Brown also goes conspicuously unaddressed. Given his importance to Camp Rock previously, even a small acknowledgement would have been welcome.

Where the film surprised me was in its willingness to subvert the outcome it appears to be building towards. Sage is repeatedly positioned as the person we’re expecting to triumph, but the resolution instead reinforces everything the movie has been saying about togetherness. Without getting too deeply into spoilers, the five ultimately matter more as a group than any one of them does as the designated star.

There’s also a returning face whose involvement Disney unfortunately revealed before release. What impressed me wasn’t simply the cameo but the filmmakers’ restraint in using it. They could easily have allowed nostalgia to swallow the climax, putting a familiar character centre-stage while the newcomers became spectators in their own film.

They don’t.

Mitchie sums up the filmmakers’ philosophy perfectly “No, this is their moment.” And she’s right.

The returning characters matter. The history matters. The old songs matter. But Camp Rock 3 ultimately belongs to its new generation, and the film has enough confidence in them to let that be true.

There is also a surprising amount of heart underneath all the bright colours, romance and catchy music. Watching these five young people gradually connect works because the relationships aren’t interchangeable. Each brings something different to the group, and by the time the film reaches its conclusion, its message about togetherness feels earned rather than simply being another obligatory Disney lesson.

I’m certainly not the target demographic for a Disney Channel Original Movie anymore — I’m 43 next month — but that doesn’t stop Camp Rock 3 from being entertaining. It knows exactly what it is, gets in, gets the music started and doesn’t waste your time.

It’s lightweight, but it isn’t empty. It’s familiar without being entirely beholden to nostalgia. Its villainous plotting won’t survive particularly rigorous examination and I would have liked considerably more original music, but it’s brisk, sincere, catchy and packed with enough heart to make returning to Camp Rock worthwhile.

And if Camp Rock 4 eventually calls us back?

I’ll happily watch it with a big bowl of cereal.