Your Tween's Social Event of the Season ~ High School Musical 2

You never can predict with any certainty just what's going to make it big and what's going to sink like a lead balloon in the entertainment industry. I mean, really, who knew that when the Disney Channel aired one of their many original movies, that one little musical was going to quickly become such an insanely popular phenomenon with the tween crowd? When High School Musical aired on Disney in January 2006, just over 7 million people tuned in, but it soon became a veritable gold mine for Disney with merchandising and DVD sales.

Fast forward eighteen months to August 17, 2007. High School Musical 2 broke basic cable ratings records with over 17 million viewers, even beating out Monday Night Football! If there was a social event of the season for girls aged 7-12, this was most definitely it. My eight-year-old daughter was invited to three sleepover/viewing parties that night. Three!

In the first movie, brainy Gabriella Montez and jock Troy Bolton put aside their differences and united East High School with their love of music. It was campy beyond campy, but the tunes were catchy and it was like a clean version of Grease for this generation. In this sequel, snooty drama queen Sharpay has her sights set on Troy. She tries to maneuver him into a job at her country club, but is thoroughly annoyed (though not deterred) when Troy also gets a summer job there for Gabriella, and a slew of characters returning from the first movie, as well as himself.

When Sharpay finds out that Kelsi has written a duet for Troy and Gabriella to sing at the country club's annual talent show, she redoubles her efforts to steer Troy away from Gabriella, showing him the finer things in life that he could have with her and her familial connections.

Mom's and other assorted adults' thoughts:

When we tuned in, the other two adults who had never seen the original movie, couldn't sit through more than twenty minutes and conveniently remembered other things that had to be done at just that moment.

Me? I watched it in its entirety. It was watchable. Barely, but watchable. I didn't think the songs in this one were near as catchy as the first one, but then again I've heard the first soundtrack at least eight gazillion times. Anything can be considered catchy when it's heard that often. The acting was over the top, the script was cheesy, the ending predictably suitable. In short, High School Musical 2 was everything I expected it to be and not one tiny iota more. The characters are politically correct, if slightly annoying in their stereotypes (Nice White Jock Boy, Brainy Beautiful Hispanic Girl, Black Friend Boy, Rich White Snobs, etc.). The thing I really do like about this movie is that none of the girls are waif thin Barbies. If my daughter is going to obsess about anything, I'm happy it is a movie that portrays smart, real-looking girls.

My daughter's thoughts:

Me: Well, what did you think?
Her: That was so awesome!
Me: Did you like this one or the first one more?
Her: Both! I loved both! Can we buy this DVD too? And the mix clip? Can I get a High School Musical 2 folder for school?

Score for Disney Marketing.


Final Thoughts:

It wasn't as good as the first movie, but that's hardly surprising. As an adult, I'd never sit down and watch it myself, but for a wholesome family movie with amazing kid appeal, High School Musical 2 gets 4 Stars.

Movie Details:

Written by: Peter Barsocchini
Directed by: Kenny Ortega
Rated: G
Runtime: 2 hours with commercials
Starring: Troy Bolton ~ Zac Efron
Gabriella Montez ~ Vanessa Anne Hudgens
Sharpay ~ Ashley Tisdale
Other characters ~ Lucas Grabeel, Monique Coleman, Corbin Bleu and Olesya Rulin