Film Reviews

S Club Movie

• Rating:
• Director: Nigel Dick.
• Starring: Hannah Spearitt, Rachel Stevens, Jo O'Meara, Jon Lee, Bradley McIntosh, Tina Barrett.
• Details: UK / 91 mins / (G).

While I'm as partial to gazing wistfully at S Club's Rachel Stevens as much as the next bloke, there's really no excuse for this shambolic mess. Taking its unholy inspiration from the likes of Spiceworld and Scooby Doo!, S Club: Seeing Double pitches the group into doing battle with a mad scientist after he creates clones of the band. The fake S Club (far more charismatic than the originals, by the way) goes on the real group's tour, leaving our heroes to fend for themselves. Of course, they're also desperate to stop the evil doctor and ensure that their loyal fans aren't short-changed by the ludicrous doppelgangers. Okay, okay I might have made the last part up, but it's rather funny to see that nobody, except the real S Club, actually seem to care that they've been replaced by clones. Maybe this is a sly sideswipe at the vacuous nature of manufactured pop by the writer Kim Fuller, but one also gets the impression that not much attention was paid to the screenplay by the studio. Although pop movies aren't renowned for their multi-layered narratives, even by their generally poor standards, Seeing Double is some way wide of the mark. Yes, the kids might like it but don't be surprised if they get bored about half-way. It's that tiresome.

Review by Garreth Murphy