'High School Musical' has audiences dancing

By Katie Powers

"High School Musical 3: Senior Year" has everything: outrageously choreographed dance numbers, dramatic life-altering decisions, enough glitz and glam to make you borderline nauseous in a good way and most importantly, our favorite gang reunited for their final year at East High School.

I bet many of you have curled up your face in disdain.

Well, have you ever actually seen it?

I know it's a finely-oiled Disney machine, but you've got to hand it to them, they know how to make captivating entertainment. Just because the movie has a weak plot doesn't mean it's not wonderful.

I'm not asking for an Academy Award. I'm not even asking for poignant critical reflection. "High School Musical" is a genre in its own. Let me introduce you to it.

East High is kind of like paradise. Problems are almost always manageable if you just burst into song and dance. There are no drugs, alcohol or sex interfering with the pursuit of your dreams. You can be a basketball star, an actress, a scientist, an artist or the next president of the United States, all because you tried.

I know it sounds cliché, and it is. But in a world where the media often aims to shock Americans with horrid truths, sometimes it's nice to escape to a place where the biggest drama is who is starring in the high school musical.

Though the plot fluctuates between love story, musical and G-rated high school comedy, the elaborate dance numbers make the movie worth seeing.

In "The Boys are Back" number, Troy, played by Zac Efron, and Chad, played by Corbin Bleu, dance around a junkyard, channeling their memories of boyhood.

Getting down and dirty, they race around the junkyard singing their hearts out. They might even do flips at some point, or that could just be my imagination recreating the most epic junkyard scene in theater to date.

My favorite part is when they pose back-to-back with their arms crossed.

It's just so darn cute.

Sharpay, played by Ashley Tisdale, is back with her usual annoying antics, but she does put on a good dance number with her brother, Ryan, played by Lucas Grabeel, the most underrated character in the whole series. But don't you worry Ryan fans, he does get his moment to shine in the end.

In the song "I Want It All," the siblings take the costumes, dancing and scenery to a whole new level as they swagger around their co-stars, who are dressed as their servants.

Gabriella, played by Vanessa Hudgens, looks cute in her dresses, but is somehow lost between her ambitious academic future at Stanford and her love for Troy. One thing I dislike is that she wears a "T" necklace around her neck, as if to brand herself as the object of Troy. We know Troy is awesome, but can you identify with something bigger than being his girlfriend, please? In the end she steps it up, but it is a bit of a struggle for Gabriella.

But really, the star of the show is clearly Efron. He is magnificent. It looks like he did some serious working out before this film, and it really paid off. Efron, with his dazzling blue eyes, immediately steals every scene with an added level of intensity. You can tell he is putting every ounce of passion he has into playing Troy. Even if you don't want to like Troy or the genre itself, Efron gives him so much spirit, you will be glued to the screen.

The graduation of our six favorite stars will make you sentimental. They finally sing a song admitting they are a part of a high school musical as they parade around the football field. And ending in what is an exaggerated, awkwardly long close-up of the stars, you'll find yourself almost teary eyed at the thought of saying goodbye to our favorite "High School Musical" stars.

Just go see it. It will have you jumping, like in all the promotional pictures. I'm not even kidding.

Grade: A-

Contact Katie Powers at (408) 551-1918 or krpowers@scu.edu.