High School Musical 2

The first High School Musical continues to be a family favorite in our house.  The songs are catchy and the characters are all likeable.  It was with much anticipation that we waited for the second movie.  The whole cast was returning from the original.  My daughter talked about almost nothing else with her friends.  Even the mighty POKEMON took a back seat if for just one night.  From what I hear, my household was not alone in this phenomenon. 

We had stopped by Blue Coast Burrito on the way home and got inside just as the movie was starting.  The "We're all in this together" theme kept creeping to the surface which is fine because it was a song in the first movie and it connects the two.  Summer was starting and all the characters needed money for various things.  Enter the summer job.

The success of the first movie was in the characters and how the songs were relevant to being a teenager or at some points a teenager in love.  Songs like "Stick to the Status Quo" were great songs that truly captured the high school experience.  I walked away from the first movie with some of the songs rattling around in my brain.

High School Musical 2 fails.  The plot is contrived (the whole cast from the first movie get summer jobs at a resort together).  The songs are forgettable.  The story centers around characters that you don't end up liking much.  Gabriel, the lead from the first movie and most likeable character, takes a back seat to Sharpay.  So you get a movie were the focus is on characters you don't like or characters that you do like but are acting in a way that you don't like.  The musical scenes themselves where over choreographed and looked forced.  Not to mention that the transition to studio produced songs was always an obvious cut (the volume and pitch would be different).  I didn't notice this in the first one.

I really didn't want the sequel to be just a capitalization off of the success of the fantastic first movie.  I wanted it to continue the tradition.  Unfortunately it faltered and I can't say that I am looking forward to High School Musical 3 and I probably won't get the soundtrack to High School Musical 2.  My daughter liked it okay.  She said it was really good, but we had to get onto her for getting up and running around  several times (not a problem with HSM1).  I don't know any teeny boppers that watched it so I don't know what the demographic's response was to it. 

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Reviews and Confessions

*Here there be spoilers*

Who Wants to be a Superhero-  It is two weeks in and I think this season is shaping up to be pretty good.  I think they had a better group of heroes last time though.  So Braid (truly anoying) and Mindset (not as smart as he says) are now eliminated.  Mr. Mitzvah and Ms. Limelight have been up to the pedastals twice and both characters need some major transformation to survive.  I will now break the characters down.

Ms. Limelight - She is just so perky and sweet that you want her to do well, but she will only make it a couple of more weeks at most. 

Mr. Mitzvah- Likely the mole, super stereotypical.  If not the mole, his days are numbered.

Parthenon- He is a fun character and I like him to go pretty far, but to reference another superhero: Flame on Johnny Storm. 

Hyperstrike- I agree, his costume sucks.  I see him in the final two.

Defuser- He is a leader on the team, but I question what his focus is.  Also a chance that he is the mole.

Basura-  she is hot, but I had to look up her name.  At this point she is just eye candy.

Hygena-  I see here as another leader on the team and possibly one that will win the competition.

WhipSnap- This is my favorite, and, pardon the pun, the dark horse (cause they get adapted to a dark horse comic) for winning the whole thing.  She really wants to be there and is really taking it seriously. 

 

Crank (Widescreen Edition)

Crank- does the is guy play any other characters?  The movie was fun and almost non-stop action.  There is a lot of disbelieve to suspend and it is not remotely for children.  Guys, you might not even want to watch this with the wife. 

 

 

 

 

 

Confession Time:

I like High School Musical

High School Musical (Encore Edition)

I have watched it a couple of times with my daughter and we just have a grand ole time.  I want to buy her the DVD.  The DVD has features such as dance lessons and studio time.  This movie is very charming and family friendly.  The chicks are hot, and I can say that because they were all over 18 when the movie was made.  The sequel comes out in two weeks on Disney channel and my daughter and I can't wait. I just hope that it has the same charm as the original and doesn't come off as contrived just to make a profit off of the firsts success. 

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