Mention ‘the best of both worlds’ and nothing in particular may really come to your mind, yet say it to millions of American teenagers and they will probably shout, “Hannah Montana!” So who is Hannah Montana? For those who don’t live in the US or are not au fait with American pop culture, Montana is the alter ego of 15-year-old actress Miley Cyrus. She stars in the Disney Channel Original Series Hannah Montana, playing an eponymous teenage pop queen living a double-life as an ordinary high-school student (named Miley Stewart). The show has been a huge success, and The Best of Both Worlds Concert is a film shot during Cyrus’ sold-out 69-city tour and screens in digital 3D format.

Hannah/Miley is the ideal American pop idol: blonde, clean (both the look and the record), family-oriented (yelling for her mom whenever something untoward happens and writing a heart-melting tune for her deceased grandfather) and naïve (one shot in the film shows her driving a golf car, boasting “I am pretty good at it!”, the next catches her crashing into a road block – you just have to love the sheer stupidity). Miley Cyrus is the kind of pop artist every parent wishes their children would fall for – and that explains why most of the audience in the concert film are girls no more than 15 years old. In fact, as shown in the movie, some of the girls’ fathers were actually willing to strap on high heels and take part in a running competition to win tickets to the concert for their daughters. Real dads wearing high heels! It is the most spectacular moment in this 75-minute Disney production.

The focus of the viewing experience is, however, the 3D effect – the production notes say the film was shot especially with the effect in mind, but the result is disappointing. Most of the time I thought I was watching a concert DVD on a big screen with a better-than-usual sound system, without feeling a ‘live’ person was actually performing before me. And as no kids around me actually reached out to catch the ribbons ‘falling’ from the ceiling or tried to grab the artist when she came close to the edge of the stage, I guess they had the same impression as I did. As for the music… well, anyone still willing to pay $80 for the ticket for the film after all the above doesn’t need me to tell them what the music is like!

Rachel Mok