ALARIS' REVIEWS

2nd April 2009
High School Musical (2006)

Yes. I watched it. No. It wasn't my choice.

High School Musical is a live action, musical Disney film, which has spawned two sequels and a slew of stage shows. Set in a squeaky clean American high school, the movie follows Troy (Zac Efron) - a basketball jock, and Gabriella (Vanessa Hudgens) - a mathematics nerd, whose paths cross when they both decide to follow their hearts and audition for their high school musical.

I won't be as harsh as I could, because I'm clearly not in the age group of the target audience (kids and tweens). The premise is fine, and it's refreshing to have a storyline about a nerdy girl and a bronzed yet sensitive jock, rather than the much more popular scenario of the immature loser and the gorgeous girl (you can tell I'm not a Judd Apatow fan). The movie's message is also positive - don't deny your dreams just to please your clique.

Unfortunately, I found High School Musical painful from start to finish. There was so much ham and cheese I could feel my arteries hardening, and while you can't expect great subtlety in a Disney telemovie, Hudgens' performance was excruciating. While I'm sure she'll grow as both a person and an actor, she was nothing short of awful in this role, with an expression that looked permanently cutesy and embarrassed. It was like watching Kristen Kreuk (Smallville) and Jennifer Love Hewitt (Ghost Whisperer) distilled into a teenager who's been told to act adorable.

Bad acting can often be forgiven if the singing is spectacular (Luciano Pavarotti was no Johnny Depp), but the songs in High School Musical are deeply forgettable and awkwardly inserted, the characters switching to awkward miming as soon as the music starts. The voices are filtered beyond recognition, so we can't even enjoy the vocal talent, assuming there was any.

The plotting is predictable, which isn't always a problem, but the execution is so bland that very little is left to be redeemed. The losses lack poignancy, the victories lack euphoric triumph, and much of this is due to the lack of incisive wit, genuine warmth, or charismatic leads.

The target audience is clearly in the 10-14 years range - when these kinds of stories are still new - and if you haven't seen better musicals (eg. Chess), or better teen films (eg. Mean Girls), you may enjoy this. Unfortunately, I have, so I didn't.

Verdict: A cheesy teen musical that doesn't rise above telemovie standards.

If you like Zac Efron, you'll probably like this.

Read Zee's review of High School Musical (2006).