DVD Reviews

DVD Review: The Suite Life of Zack & Cody -Sweet Suite Victory

By Jeff Swindoll Aug 9, 2007, 9:55 GMT

Dylan Sprouse and Cole Sprouse star as 14-year-olds whose lives change when their single mom gets a job as the headlining singer at Boston\'s swankiest hotel and, as part of her contract, an upper floor suite in which they all now live. Ashley Tisdale stars as the hotel\'s teenage gift shop clerk and part-time babysitter who foils the twins\' antics; Brenda Song stars as the hotel owner\'s spoiled daughter; Kim ...more

Welcome to the Tipton Hotel where both the occasional heiress can be spotted.  Don’t worry you’re not seeing double, there are just two rambunctious twins that will be making your stay miserable with their antics. 

Zack and Cody (Dylan and Cole Sprouse) are the twins of Carey Martin (Kim Rhodes) and they’ve all moved into Boston’s swanky Tipton Hotel where mom works as a torch singer.  London Tipton’s (Brenda Song) dad owns the whole line of hotels and lives up in the penthouse.  Maddie (Ashley Tisdale) is the candy counter girl in the hotel’s lobby and Zack has a crush on her (or is it Cody – how to tell them apart?).  The twins are always up to mischief and the bane of hotel manager Mr. Moseby (Phill Lewis). 

Band in Boston: A Battle of the bands contest is being staged at the Tipton and Zack and Cody enter their band.  However, London and Maddie also enter with their band.  The boys fight over the direction that the band is taking and split up.  Can they get the band back together before the contest? 

Election: Zack and Cody run against each other for class president.  Maddie acts as Cody’s campaign manager so London takes up Zack’s campaign.  But will the candidate with the issues on their side win or will the better-funded campaign take the prize. 

Not so Suite 16: Maddie and London schedule their sweet sixteen parties for the same day.  Maddie tries to get London to reschedule her party but the snooty London refuses and even decides to throw a lavish bash at the Tipton. 

As usual this Disney Channel show features some over-the-top acting that is the bane of these shows (at least to me).  The situations are your typical sitcom for kid’s situations and always feature some sort of mischief for the twins.  This one disc number collects one show from season one (Band in Boston) and the other two from season two. 

Ashley Tisdale went on to gain more fame in High School Musical so I suppose that her fans might want to see this earlier effort, but I can’t imagine that they’ll be a lot of crossover viewers since this is aimed a the smaller kids.  The younger you are the more you’ll like or appreciate the show.  Get it for the kids to veg out on and leave the room. 

The Suite Life of Zack and Cody is presented in fullscreen as it originally aired on television.  Special features include a 4-minute “Season One Gag Reel” which is a bit strange since the majority of the episodes come from season two.  There’s also the “Suite Life’s Suite Life Challenge” trivia game hosted by Brenda Song. 

The Suite Life (like Cory in the House) is the typical Disney Channel series, which means that my kids love it and can watch it over and over again but it doesn’t do anything for me.  So rent or buy it for them. 

The Suite Life of Zack & Cody: Sweet Suite Victory is now available at Amazon. As of yet, there is not a release date for the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information.