Rental Review - High School Musical 3: Senior Year

For everyone who swooned over the last 2 films, this addition to the High School Musical franchise will satisfy the craving for more. But for the rest of the world, this is simply mediocre.

Overall there is everything to be expected: singing, dance numbers, teenage drama and love. And though there is nothing wrong with this formula, the problem is that the characters appear to have nothing new to sing about in their last year of high school. The basketball team is still singing to the beat of the ball as they hope to win the championship game, Sharpay and Ryan are singing about their plans to rule the school and/or world from their perch in the upper level of the cafeteria, Gabriella and Troy are engulfed in their ballads of love for one another, and Troy still feels the need to express his issues in an “I am man hear me roar” solo.

As uninspired as the music and plot is, the larger production value did make this film more exciting visually in comparison to the previous two. Especially when considering the larger production numbers as the characters prepare for the end of the year school play. Though it is a great editing choice to place many numbers sporadically throughout the film, this causes the final production to be very anticlimactic. Not only is there not enough of it, but in my opinion, the handling of it backstage was completely unrealistic. Lets just say that if a production actually went down the way this one does, I have trouble believing that the head of the theater department and other members of the cast would be this nonchalant about numerous lead actors not showing up, the understudies making a mockery of their parts, actors leaving during the last scene, etc.

Though the demographic Disney is trying to reach with this film will be more than pleased with the film, it would be nice to see the makers try harder to become something more than just another Disney Channel movie.

Final Grade: C

PS – I know that this will not matter to most, but during the film the piano playing girl whistles in the theatre, and that is a big no-no in concern to superstitions and luck. But maybe that is why everything went wrong, causing the production to suck.