High School Musical 2

I liked the first High School Musical. Really I did. It was fun, cute without being cheesy and it appealed to most ages.

High School Musical 2 is a joke compared to the first. First of all you have tweeny Disney stars like Vanessa Hudgens and Corbin Bleu with their terrible acting, the songs were awful, the plot seemed like an idea someone came up with in a span of 10 minutes. Ashley Tisdale and Zac Efron are probably the only kids in this TV movie who can act. What happened to the characters personalitys? Gabriella was the worst, turned into a giggling, cutesy, boy crazy teen. I wanted to slap her every scene she was in. Disney we know you tried but it wasn't really that great. Please boycott High School Musical 3, I hate to see how that will end up.

"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 movie did not live up to the hype. The plot was alright but lacked in the heart and the message of the first movie. The first movie was great because it had a message of "be an individual no matter what". This movie didn't have any message.

Some of the songs were wonderful, but some were just awful. It was obvious that there was synthesizing on a lot of the songs, especially "Bet on It". The other issue is that while Zac Efron did his own singing in this movie, his voice did not pair well with Vanessa Hudgens like Drew Seeley's in the first movie.

Ashley Tisdale was much more enjoyable in this movie though, she was cattier and meaner and it was hilarious. Vanessa's acting went totally down hill from the last movie and was lacking believability. Lucas rocked this movie though. He should have had a much much bigger role! And I'm sorry, but I was far far too reminded of The Lion King when I heard "Everyday". Elton John, anyone? I'd prefer the sound mixing of the first movie with these new songs, they are good songs, but the over-mixing takes it away for me.

High School Musical 2 is a bright and exciting sequel to an already energized franchise. With stronger production value, solid choreography, and a highly likable cast, HSM2 delivered exactly what fans expected. While the songs in this film lack the instant recognition of those in the first, it was nice to hear Zac Efron's actual singing voice rather than have it dubbed.

In the end, this film added great character depth and focused on the hard decisions surrounding priorities. With low stakes and a carefree summer attitude, High School Musical 2 is a good transition point from the first film's discovery to the big choices in the finale. Also, "Bet On It" is a certified good time!

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.