'Cadet Kelly' is just another one of those mediocre films churned about by Disney and there is nothing original in the story that makes it stands out above the rest other than this is probably one of the first times I actually felt sorry for one of Hilary Duff's characters. This film sees fourteen-year-old Kelly, a born-and-raised New Yorker, dragged away from her school, friends and the city she loves when her self-absorbed mother springs it on her that she's getting married and they will be moving. To make matters worse, Kelly's new step-father is the headmaster of a military academy that she is forced to attend. Of course, Kelly manages to fit in by becoming saviour of the school drill team and helping them find new routines.
This is a film about selfish adults who are only interested in themselves (Mum wants her perfect new life, Stepdad wants his job at the academy and Biological Dad can't be bothered standing up for his kid) and bland kids who are all clones in terms of their personalities. We have Kelly, as the stereotypical airheaded popular blonde, the awkward best friend, the boy who every girl fancies and the bully (who, in this film, belongs more in a Victorian boys' school given that she is basically a prefect who is allowed to do whatever she wants with her power with no teacher stepping in).
This film might have been more interesting where Kelly sent there as a punishment because there is no reflection at all in the film that things are hard enough for her without forcing her to attend a military school nor that there are surely buses in the area that could have taken her to a regular school. Instead, we're meant to cheer for Kelly fitting into her new school when all you want to see is some protest from her. This is the kind of film suited to shallow teenagers who like everything bland and simple but those who prefer school-based films with more thought and character would be better off watching something like such as 'Mean Girls' or 'Harriet the Spy'.
