#1. From daughter a music mogul to Justin Bieber knockoff.
I can't stress enough how much I abhor the massive change in the origin of Jem, and most importantly the character of Jerrica Benton. In the cartoon, Jerrica was more than just a rock star in disguise. She was the head of Starlight Records, a company given to her by her late father. I guess director John M. Chu and the Hasbro execs thought the concept of a girl running a business would be too scary for their pre-teen demographic, and went the lazy route of just making Jerrica another humdrum "Justin Bieber" youtube sensation. It's bland, unoriginal, and devalues Jerrica's character completely.
#2. Jerrica doesn't create Jem
In the show, Jem was the creation of Jerrica through the help of Synergy, a computer created by Jerrica's father that can project holograms. In the movie, Jem is nothing more than a name and a character created by the evil music industry, meaning it has nothing to do with Jerrica's character, and in the end, the moral's pretty much more set to be that Jerrica's more important as herself than as Jem. Even though Jem as a second persona to Jerrica was more important to the series due mainly in part to the fact that with the Jem character, Jerrica was able to keep Starlight Records afloat, as well as help keep her orphanage Starlight House in business.
#3. No Synergy means the Holograms name is pointless
So, why is her band called the Holograms if there are no holograms involved? And no, I have no faith in the little "showtime Synergy" line at the end of the trailer. If anything it feels like shallow fan service in a movie that feels like the last thing it wants to do is cater to its original fans.
#4. Erica Raymond? Really?
Okay, this one isn't a massive gripe, I have really little issue with Juliette Lewis in the role, but I do feel the gender switch of series main villain Eric Raymond seems a bit pointless. But then again maybe an evil male executive who only cares about money and not the people he hurts along the way may be hitting a little too close to home for the people behind this mess of a movie.
#5. Where the hell are the Misfits?
If there's one big offending thing about this new Jem movie it's that the most important villains in the show, the Misfits aren't even in this movie. The Misfits are a major part of the series, serving as the rivals to the Holograms. And getting rid of them just feels like this empty movie somehow managed to get even emptier. And yes, it's likely Hasbro was thinking this would have enough weight in it to be a film franchise, and more than likely we would get the Misfits in the sequel, and hell, maybe even the Stingers in the third film.
But you just can't have Jem without the Misfits at all. It's like if you made the first Transformers movie and didn't have the decepticons at all. How much more boring would the film be? He-Man needs his Skeletor, the Ninja Turtles need their Shredder, Popeye needs his Bluto, and the Holograms sure as hell need their Misfits.
#6. "You changed man. It used to be about the music!"
And if the cliche nature of this film hasn't bothered you more, we of course have to go through the predictable "band leader gets too big for their bandmates, and everything goes to hell for a while until everyone gets back together in the end" crap. It's a very unnecessary thing in an admittedly unnecessary movie.
#7. Rio's in on everything
One of the biggest angles in the series was the fact that Rio was in love with both Jem and Jerrica. To the point that it honestly just makes him look like a two timing scumbag, though Jerrica seems to have no issue with it seeing as he's just cheating on her with her. So, let's avoid that and have Rio in on the whole character from minute one just so his only role in the series can now just be love interest for Jerrica and nothing more. Hell, he could be any character at all now and it wouldn't matter since the whole concept of Rio has been shot in the leg. Yet another foolish abandoning of what made the series work.
#8. Jem's Makeup
I'm no makeup artist, but seriously? Jem's original makeup looked great, and rarely ever felt like too much. Now it just looks like they thought the only thing that defines Jem was pink, so they just took a paintbrush and slapped it across Aubrey Peeple's face. I don't think truly outrageous rock star, I think she's on the war path.
#9. The stupid "lol men like this music too" joke
It was a dumb stinger joke that failed badly, and it's been done better. Not a massive gripe, I just thought it was stupid.
#10. The entire trailer gives away the movie
Seriously. If you watch this entire two and a half minute trailer, you get every single important plot point in the film. Jerrica's a shy girl who becomes a youtube sensation and a big music star. She becomes Jem, a character made by the evil music industry. It becomes a battle with her own identity as the struggles of fame overwhelm her. She turns on her band and they break up. She finds romance with Rio, and in the end they all come back together. This is why trailers are horrible nowadays. They give away too much of the movie. And in a case like this where the movie is predictable as all hell, it's even worse. Why would anyone have a reason to go now if they know from minute one what they're getting? Just a foolish trailer.
And that's ten reasons I hate this trailer. I'm still considering it for Tooncrap when it gets released, and I have no interest in watching it other than for that reason. Could it still surprise us with its quality? Doubtful seeing the mess of a trailer we got, but you never know. In the end, this will go down as one of the biggest movie blunders in recent years, and it'll be interesting to see how Hasbro handles this negativity and the prospect of the film bombing in the box office.