In just a little over two years, “High School Musical” has become a worldwide sensation. After two Disney Channel movies, H.S.M. hit the big screen in 2008 and “3”, which is new on DVD, is clearly the best of the three.
All the popular characters (and actors) are back. In the story, they’re all seniors and getting ready to leave East High and head-on to college. Zac Efron’s character, Troy, is still a big basketball star. The seniors decide to put on a musical about their dreams of how life is going to be after high school. But Troy’s girlfriend, Gabriella (played by Vanessa Hudgens), has already begun her life away from school. Will she make it back in time for the show and for graduation?
Overall, “High School Musical 3” is the most dramatic of the three films, and it has a lot of heart as well. And there are some nice messages about the importance of kindness, caring and believing in yourself and your dreams. There are some boring moments, but diehard H.S.M. fans won’t notice.
The acting is better than in the first two. I think everyone invloved in the film realized that they need to step-it-up since this version was being shown in theaters. The dancing scenes are pretty good. There’s a musical number practically every 5 minutes, but most of them work with the story (unlike in “High School Musical 2″, which was a disaster.”
“High School Muscial 3” is rated G and, of course, is very Disney family friendly.
On The Official Kid Critic Report Card, “High School Musical 3: Senior Year” gets a C+.
And that’s a lot higher grade than I thought I would give it after seeing the first two. If you’re a fan, you’re going to want to own the DVD for the movie and the extras. But even if you’ve not seen the others, it’s worth a look. And you’ll get a glimpse of the future and some of the new main characters that will be in “H.S.M. 4.”