High School Musical: Premiers pas sur scène

"High School Musical" was a movie that can pick you up and make you "dance". The songs were great especially "Get your head in the game". With some dance moves, the movie also added great humor,"love",and for those jocks out there BASKETBALL! The actors rocked the stage and just made the movie a teen can watch and who knows maybe one or two can relate to "Troy"(Zac Efron),"Gabriella"(Vannesa Anne Hudgens),or even "Sharpay"(Ashley Tisdale). Disney has proved itself once again as the movie magnet! Like other movies "Right on Track", "Go Figure", "High School Musical" is a great movie which you can sit with family or with friends and enjoy and you never know when you might be singing along!

Troy Bolton is the captain of the high school basketball team but, at a New Year's Eve party he discovers a love for music while doing karaoke with a girl he just met – Gabriella. Going back to school after the break, Troy discovers that Gabriella is a new pupil there and that she is smart enough to not be part of his social circle and is a big player in the science club. As the high school musical approaches Gabriella and Troy have become closer and are tempted to go for the two lead roles. However, not only will this mean breaking up the musical domination of Sharpay and Ryan Evans but more significantly challenging the social moulds they are put in by themselves and their peers.

With a title that is pretty much a description of contents rather than a title, I pretty much knew what this film was going to be when I sat to watch it. I expected a typical high school movie plot (ie pick one from the five or six main generic ones in films) but delivered as a musical and for the whole thing to be as glossy and as cheerful as one would expect from the Disney film. The way that it is laid out means that it delivers just that – a cheerful musical that goes where you expect it to and does it with the spirit of a light Broadway musical. To those that pick up this film as one would a packet of potatoes in a supermarket (ie knowing that they want potatoes and that they are buying potatoes) then this will provide just what you want and should cover up the weaknesses inherent in it.

Even to the fan, these weaknesses will be as obvious as they are to the viewers that dislike the film. The plot is of course generic and will surprise not even the child audience it is aimed at. The message is writ large across every scene and is clunky almost the whole time. The cheerful pushing of this message of acceptance and being true to yourself is a bit like propaganda and lacks any reality – something many peer-pressured teenagers will tell you. The songs themselves are cheerful big numbers that are as clean and as wholesome as American pie (the ideal rather than the movie!); none of them are good and many will grate on those not used to musicals (although this is not really the film's fault).

The cast are probably the most annoying aspect for the casual viewer because almost to a performer they scream "stage school" and they do the exaggerated and facial-movement-heavy acting that one would expect from a school musical production. Of course this just about works within the context of the genre but I found it annoying because they didn't seem to have an off switch – so even in the smaller moments they are doing the same stuff as in the midst of a massive dance number. Hudgrens is cute and makes for a sweet lead. Efron is bland but probably offers the safe and sexless looks that a female tweenie audience appreciate. Coleman's performance is poor but I was amazed by how a woman in her late twenties can manage to look fifteen! Bleu is equally poor and together they fail to provide any teeth to the peer pressure that is key to the plot. Everyone sings and dances well enough and again, within the genre, they work even if they will get on the rag of the casual viewer.

Overall then this is a film that does just what it says on the tin. It is a high school plot delivered as a musical. Those buying this product knowing the contents will probably like it because it does just what you expect and delivers a solid and slick musical to the extent that the weaknesses of the genre can be forgiven. However the casual viewer will find the so-so songs, soullessly slick delivery, stage-school performances and simplistic, cloying morals to be pretty big hurdles to get over.

This movie will always be apart of my childhood forever!!! I will always love it!! The music, the characters, the heart, the message, all of it wrapped up in a bow like a present! This is such a pure and sweet movie and it makes you feel good when you watch it! I love the talent and energy in this movie as well. I will always want to watch it again and again and this movie does have Disney magic!

I definitely don't fit into the target demographic for Disneys' "High School Musical", and when my friends saw it in my DVD collection they threatened to disown me. At that point I figured I could either (a) say "HOW DID THAT GET THERE?! and quickly distract them by popping in Kubrick's "Full Metal Jacket", (b) sheepishly admit that I'm a dork and in serious need of help, or (c) rabidly defend how awesome this movie is, accusing them that if they're too closed-minded to give it a try then their inner child must be dead and rotting in their dark pit of hearts.

I opted for (c).

As I said, this movie is fantastic. Directed by Kenny Ortega, known for many TV stints and music videos but perhaps best known as Michael Jackson's choreographer, you know immediately that this is a flick with some professional music and dancing. But for me, what I really liked was the theme of this movie, something unlike anything I've seen before. And I've been secretly watching teen flicks since the 80s with classics like "Sixteen Candles", "The Breakfast Club" and so on.

Through the ages, most teen flicks, if not all, have focused on one theme: the idea of outcasts & nerdy underdogs rising up and doing battle with the popular kids. True, it's a great theme that every teen (and every adult, for that matter) should understand. Dare to be different. Be uncool, and do it in the coolest way possible.

Here in "High School Musical" we get a reverse twist on that. The star of the movie (played by Zac Ephron) is already one of the cool kids, good looking, smart, sports jock. But he dreams of doing something as totally uncool as singing in the high school musical.

From there the theme materializes. This isn't just another "revenge of the nerds" type story, but instead it's a very individualistic, and dare I say existentialist, take on how to exist in society. Drop all labels, cross all boundaries, do whatever you want. There's a great line in the movie where Zac says to his father, "What if all my friends laugh at me?" and the father responds, "Well then they're really not your friends." Gems like this may be obvious in life, but they bear repeating to kids as well as wayward adults. Are you a 45 year old corporate executive who's afraid to quit your job and be a hairdresser? Watch this movie. Even if your situation is not as extreme as that, we all encounter pockets of resistance based on what people expect of us. And often, it's much harder to climb *down* from a successful position than it is to climb *up* from nothing.

Besides that, the movie is just plain fun. All the character are lovable, even the "villains" who in this case are the scary sister & brother team played by Ashley Tisdale and Lucas Grabeel. They reminded me of something out of an old Tim Burton flick (Edward Scissorhands) with their hilarious portrayal of the proverbial small-town big fish. Another memorable villain is the failed-diva drama teacher who always seems to be one measure away from breaking into "I'm So Pretty" (don't worry, she doesn't). Zac's female counterpart is played by Vanessa Hudgens who also does a great job of depicting the new transfer who doesn't know how or where to fit in.

Like I said, this is a great film with a solid message for all ages, as long as your inner child isn't dead. I'm not sure if this review was of any use to you, but it sure silenced the room when I shouted it at my friends. In short, this movie is for anyone who's not afraid to yell "I love High School Musical!"

10 years ago this first High School Musical film launched with very little fanfare, and no real big names in it. Little did Disney know that it would capture the imagination and hearts of so many young people, spawn two (at present) sequels and become a lasting phenomenon!

Is it surprising when you watch the actual film? No, not really. It's an hour and a bit of fun, the young cast (and they do look young) all give good performances, and it's enjoyable for all ages.

The make it or break it quality with any musical are the songs, and of the three 'High School' films this is the one with the most iconic songs.

No, it's not Shakespeare. But it is an almost modern version of Grease. I'm not a huge musicals fan, but I enjoyed it.