'High School Musical 3': Big Move to Big Screen 

By Martha Brockenbrough
MSN Cinemama

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It is tempting to hate "High School Musical" for its old-fashioned, over-the-top cheesiness, and for the very popularity of the TV-movie franchise among squealing tweens.

I just don't have the hate in me, though. The third installment, "High School Musical 3: Senior Year," is a guilty pleasure that scales nicely to the big screen. Fans will love it, and it's a safe choice for kids who won't be seeing the inside of a high school for quite a few years.

The movie follows the saga of the Wildcats in their senior year of high school. Our stars, Troy and Gabriella (real-life lovebirds Zac Efron and Vanessa Anne Hudgens), are at a crossroads.

Does Troy follow the path that pleases his parents? Does Gabriella walk away from the dreamiest high school boyfriend in the history of the world to attend Stanford?

The movie wraps those slight but age-appropriate dramas in a blanket of song-and-dance routines that were probably as embarrassing to perform as they were entertaining to watch.

None of the songs is particularly memorable, though a "Thriller"-inspired scene in a junkyard with Efron and co-star Corbin Bleu is athletic, charming, and contains an adorable surprise.

I'm making it sound like Cracker Jack and, really, that's what this movie and franchise is. It's sweet and old-fashioned, and while it will never dazzle a chef or jaded critic, it's one of those small pleasures that make life more fun -- even if the Wildcats' high school bears about as much resemblance to real high school as a housecat does to a bobcat.

View photos of all the "HSM3" gang at the Los Angeles premiere

What's in It for Kids

The very first seconds of this movie zero in on the secret of its popularity among kids: Efron.

His 15-foot-high, sweaty face fills the screen. He's in the midst of the state championship basketball game and his Wildcats are losing, big time. And yet he still manages to dribble, sing and give adoring gazes to his girlfriend across a packed gymnasium.

He's a star and, what's more, he has talent. It's no wonder the kids are impressed.

Make no mistake, though, it's not actual high schoolers who find this compelling. It's much younger kids, the ones who haven't experienced high school or even junior high school firsthand.

When you're older, the gap between the reality of adolescence and the dazzling Disney substitute makes it too painful to enjoy quite so thoroughly. In that case, the movie will be viewed with ironic detachment and much snickering.

The story itself is a fine one for kids of any age. One thing Disney does really well here is play against stereotypes. Yes, Troy is an athlete, but he also loves being onstage. You don't have to be one thing or another. Yes, Gabriella is beautiful, but she's also smart and she makes doing homework look like fun (even if she has a comparatively minor role in the movie). There's none of the cynicism that mars "Hannah Montana" or the unspeakably bad "Bratz" movie on this score. It's refreshing to see.

Even the cheerleader defies stereotypes. Her name, of all things, is Martha, and she's closer to a size 12 than she is to a size 2, though no one ever mentions it. It's not so much an intentional and self-congratulatory shattering of stereotypes we see as a quiet dissolution into the ether.

Young viewers will love the two villains in this story, Sharpay and her personal assistant/understudy, Tiara (Jemma McKenzie-Brown). Ashley Tisdale plays the shallow, ambitious Sharpay to perfection, tossing her hair extensions from side to side as she stomps her way to center stage. Her comeuppance scene with Tiara is a hoot.

They'll also find newcomer Matt Prokop, playing Jimmie Zara, to be beyond hilarious. He's clearly being prepped for "High School Musical 4," which is under way despite the fact that the rest of the kids have received their diplomas, tossed their mortarboards and taken their final curtain calls. When a show is this successful, it must go on, even if certain stars (like Bleu) have too much of the 5 o'clock shadow ever to play high school again.

What's in It for Parents

Moms and dads will like the message this movie communicates: Kids need to make their own choices, and they can balance their own ambitions with friendship and romance.

Even more, though, they'll like all the sly references to beloved '80s movies. There's good reason for these. Director Kenny Ortega choreographed "Footloose," "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" and "Dirty Dancing." And while there is no dirty dancing in this squeaky-clean story (we get earnest waltzing in the rain instead), there is a definite "nobody puts Baby in the corner" moment when Troy tells Gabriella that his prom is ... wherever she is. Cue the insulin pump!

The junkyard dance scene also calls to mind Michael Jackson's "Thriller" in the best way possible, even if Troy doesn't turn into a monster. There's even homage to "Footloose," along with a really slick bit where Efron appears to be dancing on the wall and ceiling.

It's not a movie a lot of adults will see independently, but it's eminently watchable, and the reminders of our own adolescence and the movies we watched is a sweet trip back through the misty corridors of the high school experience we wish we'd had.

It'll be fun to see what's next for Efron, and whether he can graduate from the movie-musical/high school mold (his last big-screen outing was "Hairspray").

He doesn't seem to be trying that hard yet, though. Next year, he's signed up to play the young version of a guy who goes back to high school for a do-over, and in 2010 he'll take Kevin Bacon's old role in none other than "Footloose."

Want more?

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Read another review of "High School Musical 3: Senior Year"

Martha Brockenbrough is MSN's Cinemama, for the Parents' Movie Guide. She is also the author of Things That Make Us [Sic], a guide to funny bad grammar published by St. Martin's press. She also blogs about family life for Cozi.com, and writes an educational humor column for Encarta. Check out her Web site.

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