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Reviews
High School Musical 3: Senior Year (2008)
2 Stars is a gift - please read on
My first experience with High School Musical was in 7th grade. What I'd thought would be a cheesy, stupid, lackluster film ended up being a cheesy, stupid, funny, and ENJOYABLE film. The sequel was even BETTER, so when I heard there would be a 3rd one, I had hope.
Too bad it was the most awful piece of garbage I'd ever had to watch.
It seems like some of the most memorable characters (Chad, Ryan, Kelsi, even Sharpay) were forced to sit on the sidelines as the fans prepared for an all out Troy-and-Gabriella worship. The premise was utterly nauseating. Troy, not wanting to leave his adoring girlfriend, can't decide between playing basketball at U of A, or studying theater at Juillard. His fellow seniors decide to make a musical describing their perfect senior year, including a memorable scene about the perfect prom.
However, all girls who had hoped to see Gabriella's beautiful prom dress will be disappointed: Gabriella misses prom in order to spend a week at Stanford, so Troy flies 1000 miles to spend Prom Night with her. At the end, he forsakes both U of A and Juillard to go to Berklee to be close to Gabriella. That shows a lack of maturity and possibly a need to control everything. The music wasn't even that great; all the songs sort of ran together after a little while. The only songs I can even remember liking were "I Want It All" (which had a rather disturbing interlude that seemed a little inappropriate for a G-rated movie) and "The Boys Are Back" (an over-the-top, wanna-be macho performance).
The "new" characters were even more annoying than their predecessors. Tiara, the British girl, came all the way from London to do this movie, but her mediocre singing voice didn't make it seem worth it. Jimmie Zara was mainly there for comic relief, but his infatuation with Troy grossed me out. The black kid (whose name no one can remember) had no more than 5 lines, so his presence didn't seem necessary.
Save your money. Go watch a different movie. HSM 3 is not worth your time.
Camp Rock (2008)
Disney dishes out more crap
Disney kept insisting this movie would be the next "High School Musical".
It's as if found a girl with a decent singing voice, shoved her and the JoBros together, hastily wrote a script, and filmed said script for a week.
The movie's downfall was either it's horrible plot (or lack thereof) or the horrendous acting. Joe Jonas' character was supposed to be a complete diva, but after one scene with Demi Lovato, he's cleaned up his act. Demi Lovato, though she has a wonderful singing voice, was trying way too hard. Sadly, Alyson Stoner was the best of the bunch, and she wasn't up to par.
The Jonas Brothers were mainly there to attract the attention of preteen girls, but didn't do much else. Kevin's airhead character afforded a few forced chuckles, but nothing else. Nick's Nate berated his brother for a couple of scenes and wore obscenely short swim trunks, but that's about it.
The music was completely unimaginative, and not many of the characters could actually sing. And, strangely, though the kids often started singing out on the lake or in a deserted cabin, there were always back-up singers and a full band ready to back them up.
Does no one else find it disturbing that Tess, the "villainess", was completely demeaning to other nonwhite people? Her best friends were an African-American, an Asian-American, and a Hispanic girl, and she treated them all like crap.
For some odd reason, they're making a sequel to this film. It will make the preteens happy and will make Disney a bunch more money, but spare yourself and turn off the TV when this movie comes on.
Take the Lead (2006)
Predictable, but nice (possible spoiler?)
When this movie first came out, all I heard were bad reviews. "Predictable." "Lame." "Boring." Yeah...
But that's what makes it so nice.
Antonio Banderas plays Pierre Dulaine, a REAL PERSON *gasp*, though the movie is very loosely based on his life. He comes to a messed up school to help troubled students by teaching them...wouldn't you know it, DANCE! The people he pairs up don't get along till the end, where they become one big happy family and ending "busting a move" in front of all the other professional dancers.
So yes, it's VERY predictable. But Antonio Banderas is the perfect gentlemen, who will make even married women swoon. With a passable cast of good looking characters (like Rock), you can't go wrong here.