High School Musical 3: Senior Year
Movie details
Disney's "High School Musical" phenomenon leaps onto the big screen in "High School Musical 3: Senior Year", which finds high school seniors Troy and Gabriella facing the prospect of being separated from one another as they head off in different directions to college. Joined by the rest of the Wildcats, they stage an elaborate spring musical reflecting their experiences, hopes and fears about their future. With incredible new music and exciting dance numbers designed to take maximum advantage of the big screen, this motion picture extravaganza delivers plenty of high-energy entertainment.
Director Kenny Ortega
Stars Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale
Our review
No school in the world is as perfect as the one depicted in "High School Musical 3: Senior Year" - jocks are besties with nerds, kids are accepted exactly as they are, and everyone is clear-skinned and beautiful. But the fantasy is precisely what makes this flick so ridiculously fun.
Graduating to the silver screen, the phenomenally successful franchise is bigger than ever: the wholesome young cast shines, the dance routines pop and the songs stick in your head, making "HSM3" easily the best instalment in the series.
The seniors at East High are approaching the end of their school years: basketball star Troy (Zac Efron, who at barely 5'10" is cinema's least convincing hoop-shooting champion) has led his team to victory in the state finals, and he's looking forward to going to prom and graduating with his girlfriend, Gabriella (Vanessa Hudgens).
But after graduation she's heading to college in California, while his dad wants him to stay in New Mexico and play basketball. Are these impossibly cute sweethearts destined to break up?
Meanwhile, school diva Sharpay (Ashley Tisdale) plots to win a scholarship to a prestigious performing arts school... and she'll step on anyone to get it, including her twin Ryan (Lucas Grabeel).
And of course there's the catchy musical numbers scattered through the lightweight plot, with standouts including 'Now or Never'; the sugary 'Just Wanna Be With You'; and Sharpay and Ryan's fabulously over-the-top 'I Want it All'.
As with the "Harry Potter" films there's great satisfaction in watching the cast mature as performers. Hudgens is slightly less blank than she was in "HSM2", Tisdale is gorgeously hammy, and Efron possesses true star power. Even Monique Coleman and Corbin Bleu do solid work with their tacked-on roles as Gabriella's and Troy's respective best friends.
"High School Musical 4" is inevitable, and newcomers Matt Prokop and Jemma McKenzie-Brown are slotted tidily into the cast to take on lead roles in future films.
There are flaws: the bloated finale nearly drowns in its own tedious sentimentality; while the fact that the film hits Aussie cinemas a whole six weeks after its US release is simply unforgiveable.
Junior fans of the first two will love it, while older viewers should brace themselves for an onslaught of cheese. But instead of wondering why such squeaky-clean song-and-dance tale has become so popular, grown-ups should admit that there's an incredibly entertaining time to be had in this sunny, light-hearted film.
8/10
Samuel Downing
In compiling yourTime content, HWW relies upon information supplied by a number of sources. yourTime content is supplied on the basis that while HWW believes that all the information in it will be correct at time of publishing, it does not warrant its accuracy or completeness.
Your review
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