High School Musical 3: Senior Year (2008)

Oh I do love a High School Musical! And not just because they star the delicious Zac Efron, as seen here in a leaked scene from the third movie that didn't make the final cut.

I saw the first HSM on TV a couple of Christmases ago and enjoyed it a lot, and then I got the second one on DVD and loved it even more! The soundtrack albums were swiftly purchased, and though I've only seen each movie once, I've heard the songs many, many times. Sharpay, Ryan and Troy are my favourites, as they get all the best songs, 'Get Ya Head In The Game', 'Fabulous' and 'Bet On It' are fantastic to (sing and) dance to. 

I enjoy the innocence of the movies, the very Disneyfication that turns some people away automatically. It's odd, I sometimes think I'm a cynical person, yet I love this kind of thing, and there's not a whiff of guilty pleasure about it - these movies and their soundtracks are just pleasures to me.

Despite enjoying the first two made-for-TV HSM movies, I didn't go to see number 3, Senior Year, at the cinema, and only got round to watching it a couple of weeks ago. I think I was a bit unsure as to how it would translate and whether the big screen would reveal how silly the other movies were. How wrong I was.

HSM3 is a step up from the others on several levels, mainly acting, dance set pieces and the sheer glossy scale of the production. Troy's still the perfect all American boy we all want to be (with), and Gabriella is still the bland love interest with nothing very exciting to say (I'm not jealous of her or anything, give me some credit) and Sharpay is the most glamorous, Mean-Girls-lite scene stealer of the movie. If the songs aren't as instantly memorable as in HSM2 then the choreography more than made up for it. 

Some may find the whole story a bit obvious and twee, but I genuinely felt they did something that while not wholly original, made sense and felt more grown up than before. I know it's silly that Troy and Gabriella manage to be together for a couple of years without the whisper of sex, and there's no alcohol or smoking going on, but what's wrong with a little wholesomeness every now and then? It's a great antidote to the normal cynical portrayals of teenages (see Skins, series 3 review coming soon!) and allows a little escapism in an often scary real world. Having mentioned the lack of sex, however, I swear Zac Efron's gazes at Vanessa Hudgens were mentally undressing her, they were crammed with lust. Maybe that's wishful thinking on my part?

No matter what people say about Zac Efron, I think the guy can act. And sing. And dance. (Not just here, but in Hairspray too, another of my favourites). While I find Vanessa Hudgens and Corbin Bleu a bit underwhelming (the latter was underused in HSM3, and really, across the whole series), I hope that Ashley Tisdale and Lucas Grabeel go on to outlive their HSM roles as they're fantastic comic actors and they really light up every scene they're in. One of the stand out scenes is their duet about world domination, 'I Want It All', and one of the disappointments of the movie is that neither gets another song to themselves. Boo! There are too many Troy and Gabriella duets in this one, although Zac Efron gets a great song called 'Scream' to work out his vocal chords.

So the highlights of HSM3 are: Zac Efron, Sharpay and Ryan, amazing dance sequences, and a more satisfying plot. The downsides: Not enough songs for Ryan and Sharpay, the underwritten newcomers, and the lack of a shower scene for Mr Efron.