"Jem and the Holograms" was one of the most hotly anticipated films of 2015, but did it live up to its hype?

According to critics, no. The popular '80s cartoon-turned-film about a group of female rock musicians is essentially being considered pointless and cheap, with no real plot development.

Scoring a mere 13 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, this Jon M. Chu-directed film - which stars Aubrey Peeples, Hayley Kiyoko and Stefanie Scott - is considered a flop. Read on to find out why:

"The movie's poky and confused, never clearly setting up its conflicts and blowing far too much of its running time on a National Treasure clue-hunt for messages Jem's father programmed into a sassy dancing robot. We're supposed to consider it a travesty when the manager tries to peel Jem off from her sisters/bandmates and fashion her into a solo star, but 'Jem' never bothers to show us why those (eventual) Holograms matter — we never see rehearsals, or who writes the songs, or anything of their creative process." -- Alan Scherstuhl, The Village Voice

Director Chu (of "Justin Bieber: Never Say Never" fame) is taking the heat for being a bit confusing.

"Director Jon M. Chu shrouds pop singer Jem—formerly a record company executive, now a mystery-solving suburban teen with a robot sidekick—behind celebrity testimonials and scads of non-original footage, most of it sourced from YouTube videos ... Its one saving grace is that Chu’s direction is so wildly inconsistent that it manages to produce a handful of genuinely gorgeous images alongside all of the cruddy ones ..."-- Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, AVClub.com

But some argue that the film is set up well for today's typical viewer.

"Even though I wish the songs themselves were stronger — there are a few catchy tunes to be found, but the YouTube ditty that makes Jem an instant star isn’t one of them — there’s an energy and a vibrancy to the movie that its young target audience will appreciate. In keeping with the movie’s online aesthetic, Chu uses music posted to YouTube by amateur musicians as part of the propulsive score, and interviews with Jem fans that were clearly filmed on laptops in bedrooms across America. It sounds gimmicky, but the results are quite organic." -- Alonso Duralde, The Wrap

Watch the trailer below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaPgK073xEg