HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL 2

REVIEWED BY RISSI C.

Our rating: 5 out of 5

Rated:

For those of you that have ten-year-old girls, you’ve no doubt heard countless amounts of chatter from them on this phenomenon from Disney; you can find everything from posters to t-shirts to music from the movie. The big surprise that I came away with from the first High School Musical was that even I found it quite charming. As I anticipated the sequel, I had great hopes it would live up to its predecessor and also throw in a few “improvements” along the way, and it didn’t disappoint.

As the four friends from East High get ready for summer vacation, they find themselves looking for a job, but don’t have long to wait. Sharpay Evens (Ashley Tisdale) decides that no matter what the cost, the most popular guy at school, Troy Bolton (Zac Efron), will be working at her families’ country club during the summer. Little does she know what her “no matter the cost” mentality will actually “cost” her. The manager, who is at her beck and call and is in fear of losing his job, gets Troy the position but it comes with some stipulations that Sharpay isn’t too pleased with. As it turns out, Gabriella (Vanessa Hudgens), Chad (Corbin Bleu) and Taylor (Monique Coleman) as well as other students from East High, all end up at the Evens’ club for summer jobs. Gabriella is looking forward to her first summer spent in one place as well as her developing relationship with Troy.

During their first few days at the “members only” high ranking club, the kids get into different awkward situations that almost cost them their jobs... except Troy, who for some reason or another seems to be getting promotions. Just when Troy and friends are getting ready for yet another talent competition, Troy begins to hang out with the more elite crowd including Sharpay who still has a “me” mentality. This could be the friends best summer yet or their worst. All of us have probably all too often seen a sequel flop, and ruin its predecessor. Whether it’s the “Pirates” trilogy, or the Jason Bourne action flicks, sequels and even trilogies seem to be raking in lots of capital for studios right now and sometimes we would have much rather seen filmmakers leave a movie alone after its initial production, when they already had a good thing going. In this case there are certain subjects that you may feel like rolling your eyes at and exclaiming “they already did that in the first story!”, but even though that is here, this tale still sparkles with its own unique flavor.

The simple plot of a group of kids getting job at a country club combined with song and dance numbers has to have something going for it, right? It certainly does, despite some of its faults, such as Troy deserting his friends for something bigger and better. My biggest draw comes from the fact that these are clean, full of energy and the young stars do a spectacular job of bringing it all together. Zac does a nice job of playing a Mr. Popular, while Vanessa is great as shy Gabriella who has a personality that seems so innocent; the romance between the two of them is also such a sweet little part of the film and comes off on screen as genuine. Corbin, Ashley and Lucas Grabeel as Sharpay’s sidekick brother Ryan also deserve notable mentions as they are superb, once again. The dance numbers are just as sparkling and thrilling as the previous if not more. The opening number “we’re all in this together” is superb; while the dancing is fairly simple looking as well as clean, there is still a lot of work that goes into rehearsing, costumes and perhaps the most challenging, learning the moves.  It certainly is an interesting feature of the DVD to see the making of and get a little taste of the work, choreography and time spent that goes into a film like this. However as the director remarked once, having the original cast no doubt made a huge difference while shooting the second film; I would have to agree.

Another subplot in this was a more prominent part for Ryan. After Sharpay dismisses him for something better, he comes to learn things about the other kids and ends up having a significant role in their group. It was an addition that was pleasant to watch develop and makes us like Ryan a bit more, while you feel like maybe Sharpay could be starting to learn to think of others before herself. As was the case with the previous film, this has very little that may offend. There is no language. The one very small downfall may be the dress going a little more trendy and therefore is a bit more “suggestive,” but isn’t anything to complain about too loudly as other teen flicks of today display much worse immodesties. Sharpay as well as various other female characters are shown in bathing suits, but they are fairly modest. On a few occasions Sharpay wears slightly revealing costumes while Gabriella wears an occasional short full skirted party dress.

I can’t recall many dance numbers that over suggest anything, but Sharpay’s first number is done while she’s sun-tanning and may be considered a bit “over-the-top." A couple of guys put their arms around girls while showing them different things. There are a couple of kisses in this movie where there wasn’t in the previous. These are wholesome flicks that are a breath of fresh air for girls in a world filled with overly sexual themes, strong profanity and crude humor. With the recent announcement of a third installment, one has to wonder whether or not the filmmakers can make yet another fun-filled musical, but as long as the same cast member participate, I’m sure to follow number three, as will hundreds of other fans. Since there is no doubt that many girls found this “must-have DVD” under their tree on Christmas morning, I’d encourage the whole family to sit down and watch it, there will probably be a little something for everyone.