Demi Lovato's performance. He also said that with Camp Rock, "Disney plucks another fresh face off its deep bench of young talent." Robert Lloyd of Los Angeles Times wrote that the film "isn’t particularly good, but it’s good at what it does", and called it "inauthentic". USA Todays Robert Blanco called the film "simultaneously overdone and underproduced" and said that "it jerks its way from point to point without bothering to explain the characters' behavior or inject any life into its musical numbers". Entertainment Weekly'''s Gillian Flynn said "the strange and objectionable thing about the film's morality tale is that no one makes an outright decision to be brave or better", and called it "so rigidly formulated and unremarkable" that by the time the cast sings its finale, We Rock, "it's hard to agree". Following the critics' line of comparison to High School Musical, Jennifer Frey of The Washington Post said that Camp Rock's music is "in the same easy-to-memorize, dance-inspiring mode" as that of the previous franchise, "but not as catchy". Daily Newss David Hinckley agreed, saying that "the songs don't feel as fresh" and "the film is specifically designed to ride on the success of the previous one", but he praised its formula that "goes back to the animated Disney classics of decades past", and called it "catchy and fun, a rock-steady Disney hit". Hinckley also praised the talent and performance of leads Joe Jonas and Lovato. In 2016, Billboard's Maria Sherman named Camp Rock Lovato's best film to date, describing it as "something of a coming of age tale, one not only about believing in yourself, but accepting yourself". USA Today added Camp Rock to the top ten best summer camp movies of all time. Rebecca Alter of Vulture ranked the film as one of the best Disney Channel Original Movies of all time. Sequel and spin-off Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam After the great reception to the official premiere of "Camp Rock", being the second most viewed Disney Channel Original Movie at the time, Disney confirmed a sequel to be produced in late spring 2009. Lovato, the Jonas Brothers, Martin, Canals-Barrera, Fathers, and Stoner reprised their main roles. Daniel Kash, Matthew "Mdot" Finley, and Chloe Bridges joined the cast in the new film. Finally, Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam premiered on the Disney Channel on September 3, 2010, reaching a total of 7.9 million