I don't make a habit of watching Disney made-for-cable movies (although I have seen a few), but I made a point of viewing this one since it has been something of a phenomenon, selling millions of DVDs and CDs and even being licensed for school performances. There has also been a dance track video and the sequel is in the works. Wow!
The most I can say is that it is harmless fun with no drugs, sex or rock 'n roll to offend anyone. The score is derivative but pleasant and the storyline unsurprising. Basketball jock Zac Efron (a pretty boy in the Rob Lowe mold) meets latina Vanessa Anne Hudgens at a resort New Year's Eve party and is delighted when she transfers to his high school. Meanwhile brother and sister Ashley Tisdale and Lucas Grabeel (a Disney alumnus) are the star musical performers of the school drama club. (She is in fact the most experienced of the cast, but did come across as something of a clunker). Anyhow when the first pair decide to audition for the leads in the new production much to the second pair's horror, everyone tries to put obstacles in their way. Oddly enough Efron's voice which was partly dubbed was certainly a whole lot weaker than Grabeel's. But, as expected, the diva loses out when the rest of the school supports the underdogs -- and everyone ends up as good friends regardless, a wholesome rainbow world where even the fat kids are popular.
I'm sure that the main audience for this movie must be pre-teen girls, since I can't believe that older teens would buy into it, unless they are pretty uncomplicated indeed. And for once in a teenie flick the cast looked too young. Normally the reverse is true with the actors seeming nearly elderly (think of "Grease" -- incidentally the working title for this movie was "Grease 3".) In this film even the star basketball team seemed to be made up of midgets -- well at least not the l7-l8 year-old giants one expects. Yet in this era of bad-taste movies, the film had an old-fashioned morality which must go down a treat with many.
2 comments:
What about the pianist who was the shortest of those with speaking parts. Perhaps when she grows up (though she is rising 20), she may have a bigger career than the others.
my son and neice watched this one a few times...I have yet to catch it all! TerryAnn
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