High School Musical 2

In a testament to the first installment of this behemoth, I was actually kind of excited to watch the sequel. I know I am not supposed to admit such a thing and that it kind of goes against most of what I believe in life and in watching movies, but I couldn't help it. I was drawn into this world where popular jocks are squeaky clean and where the music is about as over produced as humanly possible. I can't help but love some of those songs from the first one and I was interested to see where Disney would take this budding franchise. 3 of the stars have record contracts through Disney and all of these kids owe their careers to Disney, although Zac Effron is doing his best to break free from the bounds of Disney, so I was wondering how all of that would affect this movie.


Taking place a few months after the first one (and we never find out how the musical went, my first complaint), the kids are about to embark on summer. The opening scene gives us the incredibly obnoxious drama teacher, but luckily it is the only place she shows up. The wildcats basketball team all need jobs for the summer, but only Troy(Zac Effron)manages to find work, thanks to Sharpay(Ashley Tisdale). Sharpay thinks if she hooks Troy up hardcore that he will dump Gabriella(Vanessa Hugdens) and hook up with her. Well the running theme throughout this movie stems from the tail end of the last one- We're all in this together! So, Troy will only take the job if the entire crew gets to work there. The club director agrees but immediately regrets it because Sharpay is furious because now Gabriella will be there all summer as well. It should be said that Sharpay's parents own the exclusive club at which all of these people work. The club puts on a big talent show every year and Sharpay and her brother Ryan(Lucas Grabeel) have won it the last five years but this year the wildcats are considering doing the show. Sharpay tricks Troy into performing with her and Ryan in turn decides to help the Wildcats figure out a cool song and dance number. Troy starts to forget his friends and his mantra of "We're all in this together" becomes "I gotta do for me." He fights with his best friend Chad(Corbin Bleu) and he and Gabriella have yet another fight, but it is Disney so do not worry, things turn out all right in the end.


This movie starts off on a strong note with a big group number called "What time is it" about the upcoming summer. The number is a high energy number and the kids get some good dance moves in there and once again use basketballs as dance props, except where as "Get ur head int he game" from the first one, this song doesn't suck, well not much anyway. The music is even more overly produced this time and all of the kids sound as if their voices were run through a computer to digitize them. It is an awful affect that will plague this entire movie. The movie keeps things going with a STOMP inspired drum song called "Work this out" and a Sharpay number called "Fabulous." At this point it seems as if this movie might actually be more infectious than the first one. It is peppier, the songs with higher energy and while they lack the instant smash hit feel, you know they will grow on you. Sadly, we go a little while without any music from this point and the movie kind of treads water as a movie where the kids want to sing but don't get to for a little while. Luckily the show stopping number is just around the corner. As Ryan is trying to convince Chad to dance, they play a little baseball. As they play they sing and dance and as corny as it looks(mostly because neither Corbin or Lucas have any clue on how to swing a bat correctly) it is one absolute fun number. Any number that uses hip-hop wannabe rhythms with swing and jazz dance while using baseball bats is worth watching to me! Grabriella gets her solo I-am-so-disappointed-in-Troy song with "I gotta go my own way" and it is a fine song I guess. The staging is corny as all heck, but I guess that is the way it is supposed to go, right?


If you have read my Hairspray review you know I have a bit of a man crush on Zac Effron. I am not ashamed of such a thing because well it happens, so you can imagine my joy when Zac got his big solo emo dance ballad thingy. Even better is that it is staged in such a way that every time me leaps out of frame and the camera catches up to him, he is in a new locale. He jumps from grass to rocks to sand to being near a pond with each leap! The song "Bet on it" has a certain dramatic flair and Effron is going to be a star, but it would have been nice if he could have emoted without all the silly angry arm thrusts and whatnot. The closing number "All for one" is nowhere near the song that "We're all in this together" was and I think once you realize that about this song and the entire movie in fact, it becomes mostly enjoyable. The movie is even more cheesy this time but the dancing is a lot more fun. The acting even more corny and the music unbelievably computerized, but at its heart it has a good message and since I am not the target audience, I guess the movie works. They still show teenagers in a ridiculously innocent light and even though Sharpay gets to a soap opera level of bitchy, they forgive her for some unknown reason, oh wait that's right it is because "We're all in this together!" For me the stand out here is Lucas. His Ryan is infinitely hilarious and he manages to wear the most awful looking clothes with a cool confidence that make them not so ugly. I know he is overshadowed by Corbin Bleu's atrocious clown fro, but Lucas deserves a little more shine because after all in the first movie he said what every musical theater geek has always known "Everyone loves a good Jazz Square."