High School Musical 2

It was quite by accident that I remembered the High School Musical 2 premiere on Disney Channel last Friday. Like so many (mostly the ages of kids who ride my school bus) I tuned in at 8pm and watched the sequel to last year's big made-for-tv hit.

Now, I liked the movie. It was fun, the songs were enough to get the toes tapping, but it just didn't have that original pop that the first one had. Even the story seemed to be nothing more than a recyclying of the first plot: Troy and Gabrielle like each other but are thwarted by Sharpay but manage to make their big production number duet at the end. Everyone is happy (eventually) and everyone joins in a big finale at the end. The only thing that makes this story different from the last one is the location: a prissy club for rich people. It doesn't even take place at a high school...so calling it a "high school musical" doesn't really fit.

The only other thing that bugged me about HMS2 were the songs. While I enjoyed them and thought they were fun, I couldn't get past the synthesized vocals. It almost sounds like Cher taught these kids how to sing. When someone is singing a solo it shouldn't sound like more than one person is singing. I have no idea if the sound is the same on the CD soundtrack, but in the movie, it is far too distracting. The sound isn't realistic - but then again, this is a musical. How often do people break into song and dance in real life?

I'm being too hard on the movie, I suppose. It's a teen flick, after all. People my age aren't supposed to find anything substantial in a movie like this. Yet, I really did with the first one. There are some amazing dance numbers (not the least of which is the big finale) and a really impressive number done on a baseball field. Cast members with smaller parts in the first movie were given more of a spotlight in this one.

I doubt I'll be rushing out to buy the soundtrack, but High School Musical 2 was entertaining as it was. There are rumors that High School Musical 3 will be released in theaters, so I hope the find a way to freshen up a story for that one. Otherwise, it'll just be the start of something we've already seen twice before.