High School Musical 3 - Nos années lycée

Sequel to the TV movies "High School Musical" and "High School Musical 2" (neither of which I saw). A bunch of friends are getting ready to graduate from high school. There's Troy Bolton (Zac Efron) the school basketball champ who secretly wants to sing and dance. There's his girlfriend--sweet, squeaky clean Gabriella (Vanessa Hudgens) who is going to a college that is far away from Troy. Then there's Troy's best bud Chad (Corbin Bleu) who doesn't want high school to end. Then there's the evil Sharpay (Ashley Tisdale) who wants Gabriella's part in the school play.

The script is horrendous. I laughed out loud at a few of the dumber lines and was constantly either rolling my eyes or smirking at the plot developments. However, I'm not the target audience for this--I'm a 46 year old guy. I saw it cause I love musicals and this has gotten raves from the critics. It's pretty obvious they're not cheering on the ridiculous plot but the musical numbers. They come out of nowhere but they're full of energy and life. They're also beautifully choreographed and some are really eye-popping. The whole cast can sing and dance and give their all to every single song. "The Boys Are Back" number between Chad and Troy is a true show-stopper. None of these songs will become classics but they're good enough. This is a musical aimed squarely at teenagers and pre-teens. The language is very clean (the G rating should tell you that), all the teens look clean and fresh, all the plots are predictable and family friendly and the whole cast goes at this full blast. This is truly a movie that the whole family can watch. A lot of people are jeering at this movie (notice the poor rating it has) but why? It's just an update of those stupid Beach Party movies of the 1960s. It's no masterpiece musical but it's fun, friendly and full of energy. I give it a 7.

Wow, this series has worn out its welcome. The first two installments were modest, harmless TV movies with fast-moving stories and some catchy songs. The third time was not the charm.

I must say, either my tastes have gotten much more discriminating or this cast is getting worse with each picture. I find Ashley Tisdale about as screechy and annoying as fingernails on a chalkboard, and she was worse than ever in HSM3. Ditto Corbin Bleu, so cheerful and peppy that it gets a little sickening. All of the "actors" come off like over-eager stage-children, but those two are probably the worst offenders. None of the case- and I mean none- are believable as real, human high school students.

The low score on IMDb is representative of the majority opinion of those that are not really within the target audience of this film, however it is also the opinion of those who have never watched any of the High School Musical films for themselves. Rather than accepting that the film is not for them they also feel the need to deride it as worthless when really they mean that nothing about it holds any value for them. This is not the same as the HSM films being brilliant though – just I think that they come in for some overly harsh criticism by those that seem surprised that they do exactly what they propose to do. In a way it is like complaining that Star Wars is an awful film because it is a sci-fi.

OK, there is plenty wrong with HSM3. The plot is obvious but yet full of sanitised relationships and situations, cloying moral messages and forced sentiment and certainly if you are watching it as a film then yes there is plenty that is clunky. However it is probably not fair to pick holes in all of the obvious stuff while ignoring that it does actually do a good job as a musical. Have you been to a musical? It tends to bring cheesy overacting, big smiles, easy sentiment, big musical numbers and not a lot of room for gritty reality of teenage life and the messy business of teenage relationships – that HSM3 has all these faults is not really something that I'm going to kick it about. It is a bit overlong though and, at almost two hours it does have sections that appear to have little forward motion and perhaps lack pace or a sense of fun that it does when it is in good form. It could and should have lost at least 20 minutes in there somewhere and would have been better for it – although I know that Disney see it as a flagship product recently so want to do more with it. It must also be said that several of the musical numbers are not as fun as they should have been. Some don't inspire in terms of choreography and several of the songs come over as rather bland and samey.

The cast do well, although I understand why some viewers do not like the performances. Efron may not have a great range to expand out of this but he is a great presence in the film – he does singing and dancing really well and has a light touch that makes him easy to like. Likewise Hudgens, for all her photographic "scandals" delivers a wonderfully light turn that is nothing but sweetness. OK neither of them come over as real people but they are sweet and enjoyable couple at the heart of the film. As before Tisdale is fun and bitchy without being unlikeable and she works well with Grabeel. Bleu has less to do than before and I didn't think he was used that well – likewise Coleman.

Overall HSM3 is far from a great film. It is clunky and obvious, overlong, cheesy and is not the sort of thing that will win over viewers who do not like cheesy musicals – but it is a bit harsh to blame that on the film when it is pretty clear from the start that this is what it is setting out to be. It should not be given total forgiveness for its flaws and of course the casual viewer may be left a bit cold by aspects of it but if you are happy to meet it on its terms then it is a reasonably good (if sanitised and soullessly packaged) product.

The thing about the High School Musical franchise is that you either love it or hate it. Ever since the first movie, it has always been like that. I, for one, will now be standing in the middle because I will review this film unbiasedly. I've to say, the movie was fun to watch. It has a very simple storyline, which was made complicated later on in the movie. The characters whom are now in their senior years has to choose where they have to go after they finished high school. This is the story about their hope and fears and choices they have to make. Simple enough...

What amazes me is the dance numbers which had me completely blown away. It was choreographed so sophisticatedly and so beautifully that it will leave the audience enthralled. From a simple waltz during the rooftop scene to a very complicated-sorta-breakdance in the junkyard scene. I give my applause to the choreographers and the dancers. Well done!

The songs, I've to say, are good and most are very catchy and fun to listen to. The lyrics have matured. They are mostly better than the songs from High School Musical and its sequel High School Musical 2. The lead singer of each songs sings the song greatly. My compliment to Efron for his rough and edgy voice and Grabeel for some nice and melodic pitch. Although I'm not quite fond with Hudgen's nasal high-pitch voice.

One thing that I'm not happy with this movie is the fact that most of the musical numbers and songs are performance scene. Whether they're rehearsing the play or the play itself. In a true musical the dancing and singing are the way the characters express their feeling or just a way they talk. It is apart of the story, the dialogue. But in HSM, some of it are performance scene. For example, the prom scene is actually the rehearsal of the actual play. This slightly takes away the musical feel to it.

A bit of a warning though. This movie is made FOR THE FANS ONLY. If you're not a fan, you might want to start with the first HSM and work it up or just stay away from the franchise. Because, if you're not a fan, you might find some of the scenes quite cheesy. From some of the dialogues, to the ending where the camera focuses on the characters' faces before the big red curtain closed, even the last song (entitled "High School Musical") during the graduation is slightly cheesy.

Other than that, I'd say it is a great movie for all ages, especially the young ones. And it is a great family movie if you want some times to relax from the rough actions and romance or even politics of Hollywood.

The songs and the dance moves will keep you glued to the screen.

Okay, I am 100% completely for the High School Musical franchise! Have you noticed that the majority of people who have something derogatory to say about the series are 15+. Well, duh! You were young once too and no one constantly dissed the Lion King or Cinderella or Rugrats or whatever your "show" was as a naive, innocent kid. Lions don't talk or dance or sing, there are no such things as "fairy god mothers" and talking mice, and babies don't have imaginary worlds where they can talk in front of adults, yet no one hears them. What do you want Disney to do: turn High School Musical into a movie about kids who are sexually active backstage and smoke weed after rehearsals? There's nothing wrong with a nice, innocent, family movie, people! If Disney turned High School Musical into that, you'd be complaining WAY more, trust me! And yes, High School Musical may be like a fantasy high school world that we all WISH could exist, but it's not destroying the kids' brain cells or anything. Once they get to that certain age level, they'll realize that the "perfect, happy, HSM life" was all an illusional element created because it's Disney. So chill.

If you went in with that perspective, you'd see that High School Musical 3 was pretty enjoyable and that HSM actually has underlying themes that good do the kids some good! The songs were actually cool and different and were fun to sing along to. It's also sad watching the Wildcats grow up if you're really a fan---they're hearts can't seem to tear away from East High. Oh, and Zac Efron isn't too hard to look at either! Take your kids and have a NICE, innocent, enjoyable, afternoon at the movies to see this!