High School Musical 2

I've said it before and I'll say it again, High School Musical 2 is the greatest cinematic achievement of all time. If Beethoven wasn't deaf nor dead he would cry in awe of the beauty of its classic hits such as: Bet On It, Gotta Go My Own Way, Fabulous and more, knowing he would never be able to compare. Zac Efron changed the film industry with his performance in this film, inspiring millions world wide. To say that High School Musical 2 is not the greatest achievement of humanity would be heresy and would result in the Pope breaking down your door and presenting you with a 56 hour powerpoint presentation on the epic highs and lows of High School Musical 2. Sharpay and Ryan Evans are perhaps the most culturally important characters to ever be portrayed, possessing such a high level of icon behaviour that if aliens were to land in my backyard and ask me to take them to my leaders I'd simply show them High School Musical 2. In conclusion no words can ever sum up the sheer genius of this film but if you haven't already seen it (like a fool) then watching it should be next up on your agenda.

This is honestly one of the most fun movies I have ever seen. I loved nearly every second of this film. With that being said, it's kind of terrible. Just watch it and have a great time.

I've finally found out the reason why the High School Musical phenomenon is such a success. Why the first movie's soundtrack was the top-selling CD of last year. Why there are ice shows, stage productions (amateur and pro), karaoke CDs, and karaoke DVDs to boot. It all traces back to the 90s.

You see, the 1990s gave birth to NSync, Backstreet Boys, the Spice Girls, Britney, Christina, Jessica, what have you. But their time wasn't meant for the 90s. They had come too early. Music honestly wasn't ready to cycle back to the confectionery, syrupy, Velveeta meets cotton candy of the late 50s/ early 60s. But now is the time.

The reason that High School Musical, and now Part 2, are such a success is because 1990'S POP MUSIC IS BACK WITH A VENGEANCE!!! High School Musical was the Reset Button, if you will, setting kidz-bop-pop back in its rightful place. Adults have their music, their innuendos, their profane-angry-paranoid-hurtfully honest songs. Why not give the kids a break? A place to be a kid?

The sequel does a great job of avoiding the urge to fix what's unbroken, but instead to polish it. This film isn't darker, but it is spunkier. More attitude, and even more confidence (if that's hard to imagine). This film is strictly for A) kids, and B) people who not only remember but enjoyed being kids. High School Musical 2 is a burst of joyful exuberance. Winks towards adult audiences have their place, but so do productions where a kid isn't talked down to or expected to grow up too fast.

The straight-up theater pop of the first has been replaced with more of a Hip-Hop/ Arena Pop edge. Less Broadway, more Billboard. Plus, the mythological task of defeating high school cliques has been replaced with simply earning a check for the summer. The movie wants to feel bigger than the last, but it's actually more intimate. That's an unintended plus.

The cast goes through some drama this time around, and some changes are made, character-wise. This was the biggest surprise. Disney Channel could have simply done a rehash of the first film, but everyone involved truly did a great job. I forgot that, as corny as the premise - the whole franchise - is, these guys can really act. And sing. And dance. No wonder Disney gonna's make a fortune.

And no wonder musical theater is so rough. Every single participant has to be a Triple Threat. But that's part of the fantasy of the first film: making the audition, giving it your all, and gaining the applause and support of your peers. What's great about this second movie is, really it's about the reverse of that. LOSING the support of your peers. Losing yourself in search of something you don't really need, not yet anyway. It's a good message: The future will come soon enough. Enjoy being a kid and being with the ones who love you while you still can.

Still, if this second movie doesn't match up to the first, it's because of moving it away from the dream of Triple Talent Status. No longer a musical about a musical, it instead becomes a musical about a country club. Instead of risking social status to be yourself, to find yourself, it is now about the dangers of losing yourself, by giving into social status. More dramatic, sure. A stroke of genius, I would say, except for the fact that it's still a freakin' High School Musical movie, not a Country Club Musical movie.

By moving into more complex territory, it grows up. But by default, it is less fun, just a smidgen less, than the original. To its credit, it isn't stale (the new setting keeps it fresh), but Disney Channel, Ortega, and all company involved will be hard pressed to create a three-quel that's just as fun, lively and CHOCK FULL OF 90'S POP as the original. A return to the theater would be welcome.

As for the songs themselves, let's just say I've been fair enough to comment that I enjoyed the MOVIE for what it was. Disney's been great at soundtracks but they'll have to do a lot better for part 3. Aside from the opener and a baseball game/swing number, there's not much to enjoy this time around, once again due in part to the removal of the high school locale.

The kids will LOVE IT, the parents will Tolerate it, Disney Channel will collect money hand over fist, and everyone else will have no idea what is going on because they've failed to realize (A) what it meant to be a kid, (B) that 90's Pop Music is back with a vengeance, and (C) everybody wants to sing and dance, even if they don't want to admit it.

"High School Musical" was a fun classic film. It's such a terrible shame that Disney is milking the franchise for all it's worth because it will only hurt the franchise more in the end.

I don't blame Disney for doing a sequel. The story and character development though is a bit stale and cliché, like being in dull standard DCOM territory. I've been listening to the soundtrack to this film nonstop before I finally saw the movie and it is the best soundtrack ever. However the actual performance of these songs in the film is less to be desired.

"What Time Is It?" and "Work This Out" were the worst musical sequences in matters of dance and direction. They're good songs on the soundtrack but on screen I was like...ugh...Troy's dancing! I think you can do more visually with these musical numbers then see Troy do bad break dancing in one spot for a whole 3 minutes! "What Time Is It?" was just ridiculous and over the top given that this is coming fresh off of HSM which had more genuine and more realistic musical numbers. Here it is just like "the music is playing everyone start doing a ridiculous dance infront of the camera!" As I said about story and characters, they're not so great as the original but you just need to have fun with it as even more unrealistic as this film is compared to the film.

I will say this: Sharpay was evil and became more of a stereotypical snobby blonde character in this film as she attempts to steal Troy from Gabriella, but goddamit SHARPAY IS AWESOME IN THIS MOVIE!!! All the other characters in the film were a bit more "smug" in this film (much to my annoyance) but Sharpay was just fun and hilarious in her attempts to steal Troy. And it was good to see more development with Ryan's character.

All in all, the soundtrack to the movie is actually better than the movie itself. Though, I enjoyed this film as bad it probably is, mainly because of Sharpay's character. The story and musical numbers became less annoying near the end. If you're a fan you might as well watch and just have fun with it. It ain't the best but I'd rather watch this again than "Camp Rock".

This is a follow-up to the very successful Disney Original Movie "High School Musical" that was first shown a couple of years back. My kids loved the first one so much that they have practically memorized all the songs. Their favorites are "Start of Something New", "Bop to the Top", "Breaking Free" and "We're All in This Together". OK, OK, I liked it too.

Now this sequel has a different setting. It was not even set in the high school per se anymore, but in a posh New Mexico resort owned by Sharpay and Ryan Evans. Sharpay gets her claws out again to grab Troy Bolton away from his girl Gabriella Montez. She fixes it so that Troy will work a summer job at her resort, but to her surprise, Troy brings the whole Wildcats gang in with him, including Gabriella! There are more serious themes in this film. There are several serious confrontation scenes. There were serious choices that needed to be made by lead character Troy, more serious than whether he should sing at his high school musical or not. This time decisions involved loyalties, priorities, planning for the future while staying grounded now. Very difficult choices indeed for a teenager in high school to face. But of course, as this is a Disney Original Movie Musical, so we do expect a happily-ever-after.

The songs in the first HSM seem catchier for me, but of course, I'm biased since I have heard them over and over, and enjoyed my kids singing them over and over. But the songs here have a charm of their own. Let's see if they will catch on, and if my kids will want to watch this over and over when the video comes out.

The songs parallel those in the first movie.

"I Don't Dance" is sung by Ryan and Chad while dancing and playing baseball, in the style of Michael Jackson's "Beat It" video. I see it as the equivalent of "Getcha Head in the Game".

"You are the Music in Me" echoes "What I've Been Looking For," sung slowly at the piano with Kelsi by Troy and Gabriella. Although the alternate fast Sharpay version is sung this time with Troy, not Ryan.

"Gotta Go My Own Way" is the sad love song by Gabriella, much like "When There Was Me and You" in the first movie. Troy gets to sing a little with Gabriella in the new song though.

"Everyday" sung during the actual Talent Show at the end is the equivalent of "Breaking Free" sung at the Musical in the HSM1.

"All For One" is the new "We're All In This Together", the party song sung at the end by the whole cast.

Zac Efron sung all of Troy Bolton's songs in this second movie, unlike in HSM1 where Andrew Seeley get credited for the Troy songs (and appears in the HSM Concert in lieu of Zac!) Zac even has a solo highlight "Bet On It", where he dances ala Michael Jackson meets the Jets (of West Side Story) on the golf course.

Overall, HSM2 succeeded because the characters were all very familiar and well loved. Who could argue with rating of 17.6 million viewers on its premiere night, making it the highest Disney Channel Original Movie in history? Its soundtrack album is the second best selling album of 2007. None of the new songs though made so much of an impact on the singles chart like "Breaking Free" did the last time.

Despite the efforts obviously spent on this above-average sequel, I personally do not think it will match the enduring success of the first HSM, but I guess only time can tell how much legs this sequel has.