Movie Review – “High School Musical 3: Senior Year”
Reviewed by Gary Pollard (first aired on RTHK Radio 4’s “Morning Call”)
To many people outside of its demographic the “High School Musical” series is a mystery. To others, mostly preteens and early teens, it’s a life-enhancing cultural phenomenon. The first “High School Musical” began as a made-for-TV movie that instantly hooked its young fans and made overnight stars of Zak Efron and Vanessa Hudgens. When first shown on January 20, 2006, it instantly became the most successful movie that Disney Channel Original Movie had produced. By any count “High School Musical” is a phenomenon, and one that’s so popular it’s been performed by hundreds of school drama departments around the United States since its debut.
In that first film, based on a script for “Grease 3″, Efron’s Troy Bolton was a school athlete with a secret hankering to get on the stage and do musical theatre. Of course, he did, also falling in love with the brainy transfer student Gabriella Montez (Hudgens) at the same time. In the second episode, he is tempted by what rich girl Sharpay Evans (Ashley Tisdale) can offer him, but decides ultimately to stay with his true love. “In High School Musical 3 – Senior Year” he’s still with Gabriella, but both they and the other students are facing up to the fact that they will soon have to graduate and go their separate ways.
The whole series, of course, is very much a Disney vision of high school. This is an all-American high school with no alcohol, no drugs, no weapons, and not even any sex, although for the more mature viewer, a certain gay subtext does creep in from time to time. Of course “High School Musical ” is not aimed at the more mature viewer, and nor does it need to be.
On its opening weekend “High School Musical 3 – Senior Year” made US$42 million in the United States alone, a record opening for a musical. The previous best, this summer, was for “Mama Mia”, which took just $27.8 million.
Kenny Ortega directs it, as he did the two TV movies, from a script by Peter Barsocchini. Also handling most of the choreography, Ortega has taken full advantage of the larger scale of the big screen in the dance numbers, which sometimes almost take on the scale of a 1930s Busby Berkley film. That’s a good thing, because it’s probably the dance numbers, to relatively middle-of-the road songs, that are the movie’s main selling point.
The third episode begins with the Wildcats, the basketball team of Albuquerque’s East High, about to lose the basketball championship. Inevitably they get it together in the last sixteen minutes and pull out a victory. As the team celebrates in Troy’s home, Troy and Gabriella head to his tree house to talk. They lament that time is passing so fast, that the year will soon be over. Gabriella is headed for Stanford. Troy has a basketball scholarship to the local university, where his best friend, Chad (Corbin Bleu), and his father (Bart Johnson) expect him to go. Gabriella doesn’t have much faith in their ability to survive the long distance relationship and is already pulling away a little.
Further complicating things, drama teacher Ms. Darbus (Alyson Reed) has invited talent scouts from Juilliard to observe the senior year musical and award one student from the school a scholarship. Three people have applied: the ambitious and obnoxious Sharpay, her rather more talented brother Ryan (Lucas Grabeel) and talented writer Kelsi (Olesya Rulin). Unknown to Troy, at least at first, someone has also put his name in the ring.
Naturally the pushy Sharpay is determined she’s going to get the scholarship, even if it means trampling everyone else, including her own brother. Gabriella is also encouraged to join in the musical but is confused because she has a chance for an early admission to Stanford, which will mean missing the opening night and her prom. And Troy is still trying to decide whether he really wants to follow his dreams and become an athlete, or go to a performing arts school like Juilliard. In a subplot pinched from “All about Eve” Sharpay hires Tiara Gold (Jemma McKenzie-Brown), a British exchange student as her personal assistant and understudy.
It’s obvious to anyone with any knowledge of musical history what’s going to happen in almost every area of this film, but then the fans of the “High School Musical” series are certainly not likely to have seen such movies as “All About Eve”, “Billy Elliott” or any of the “Let’s put on a show” Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland films from which this one borrows so liberally.
Well, this is very much a dream of high school and a dream of first love. The song and dance sequences begin in “reality” but mostly then spread out into massive fantasy numbers. As in the earlier TV films, Ortega makes use of different musical genres, from rock anthem “Scream”, through boy-band-styled “The Boys Are Back,” and on to dances that channel Michael Jackson. The music is resolutely middle-of-the-road. The music from “High School Musical 2″ was the best-selling album in the US last year. I don’t think it’s because the songs are memorable even for the fans, as much as it is because they remind viewers of emotional moments from the series.
For “High School Musical 3″ the songs were released in advance, giving the young viewers the chance to get to know them before they saw the movie. It’s a way of convincing them that the songs have more credibility than they do perhaps. Not only that, they tend to grow on you after repeated listens.
One thing that’s interesting about the movie is its setting in Albuquerque, New Mexico.. In terms of the interiors and the suburb exteriors, it might as well be Los Angeles, but there are exteriors with spectacular mountain peaks in the background that add some atmosphere.
Those who have long lamented the demise of the movie musical should take consolation from the fact that Ortega is bringing an entirely new generation to the form. But unless you are one of those young fans, this is mostly recycled ideas well packaged. Hopefully the new generation of musical fans will get somewhat more rewarding fare in the future.
I suppose for viewers who are neither teen nor pre-teen, High School Musical 3 is easy to watch, but it’s never exactly inspiring. It’s easy to see young attractive leads perform numbers that have so much energy. Parents can at least be relieved that this is entirely wholesome entertainment with positive moral messages, and no mention of anything that might lead to embarrassing questions. The most sexual these teenagers ever get is a kiss. And even that is better described as romantic than sexual. Not only that, although the school has different races among its students and staff, all is harmonious. These are not bad examples to set, for parents who want their kids to find positive examples in the movies. No one says it’s supposed to be realistic. It is Disney.
Ultimately “High School Musical 3: Senior Year” is more of a well-crafted product than a work of art. And few critics, no matter how cloying they may they find its wholesome fantasy, will deny that it is indeed well crafted.
