High School Musical 2

It was inevitable the first High School Musical would get a sequel after how much of a success it was. Released a year after the first film, this one would become Disney Channel's highest rated movie ever with more than 17 million people watching it's premiere, roughly 10 million more than it's predecessor! So can this sequel feel like the ultimate summer vacation, or does it feel like having a very lazy summer doing nothing but sitting in your bedroom on your laptop? Let's find out!

Story: Although I give credit that it doesn't rehash the first High School Musical, this movie is somehow worse with the story! Rather than being formulaic, it's just pointless with surprisingly mixed messages. Anyway, it's about the group from the last movie having summer jobs at Sharpay's country club with Troy focusing on his prospective college & therefore blowing off his friends...and somehow he's portrayed as the bad guy! Anyway, they also retconned Sharpay by making her a bitch again & wanting to be with Troy for no reason whatsoever other than for some sort of other conflict besides Troy blowing off his friends...that's about it as the movie doesn't do much for it's running time other than annoyingly cute Troy & Gabriella romance moments & angst, Ryan gaining the respect of the group & actually being his own character & Sharpay making Troy have a ton of perks with his promotion. And the cheesiness level compared to the first film is just up to eleven due to the rather unrealistic premise & the colour pallette is just way too bright & saturated, making Troy's skin look orange & Gabriella's hair blue! Overall, it just feels heartless & it doesn't help that the movie does nothing to make it seem plausible with quite a few plot holes. Yes, it may not be a rehash, but it's really watered down in comparison to it's predecessor.

 

 

Characters: In this one, the characters have not changed at all. Well, Triy has changed, but can come across as a jerk, when in reality, he's thinking about his future! Gabriella this time round is just the main love interest with no personality or actual development. Sharpay has gone full circle back to the bitch she was in the first film as she wants Troy...because they needed conflict between the main couple? Whatever, she's just there to be the villain! Then there's Ryan, probably the best character in this movie as he actually avoids just being Sharpay's henchman & is actually shown to be a dance loving & talented guy who is just friendly to everyone...too bad a character like that can't exist in reality! This is High School Musical after all! Chad & Taylor are pointless besides being the token minority best friends that give Troy & Gabriella advice. Mr Fulton is just an over the top manager at the country club, except he's not funny! Kelsi has not changed at all other than to ship Troy & Gabriella & to make up some bad songs for the movie! There's nothing else to say other than that they're as bland as before, but the character development is just mixed up compared to the first film!

 

Songs: While the songs in the first film were insufferable & cheesy, this one has the same qualities, except they're more bland! Yes, the songs in the first one were awful like I just said, but at least the tunes ended up being imprinted in my brain! What Time is It is just the obligatory crowd song as it's about them being excited about summer while in the high school after the bell rings...and not cleaning out their lockers & actually leaving like they want to! Fabulous is just an awful song for Sharpay placing emphasis on her Paris Hilton-esque lifestyle. Work This Out is just bad & forgettable with Troy convincing the others to have fun working even though they could get fired. You Are the Music in Me is just so cheesy with really lame lyrics which I didn't care about! And Sharpay's version later is somehow worse! I Don't Dance is just so bad in that Chad sings about dancing despite having already danced earlier in the movie & in the first film as well as having bad choreography. I've Gotta Go My Own Way is just Gabriella's obligatory sad love song which is forgettable with the execution being terrible! Bet On It is easily the worst song in the movie & is just so hilariously bad with the awful attempt at Billy Elliot/Footlosose-esque anger dance choreography making it that much funnier (as well as the infamously bad CGI reflection of him in the water) Everyday is this movie's version of Breaking Free & it's really watered down! It would've at least been tolerable if it weren't for the really corny addition of their friends/staff from the country club! All For One is just pointless with a bland melody with lyrics just about summer & is essentially a watered down version of We're All in This Together from the last film! Another issue I have this time round is that the movie really overuses the backing vocals for solos considering the movie wants to be a musical rather than have generic pop songs in a movie!

 

I honestly think High School Musical 2 is worse than the first film, Yes, it may have a formulaic plot with paper thin characters, but the second movie is worse in every other aspect! This gets characterisation completely wrong, the story is a mess & is pointless & the songs are bland & forgettable as well as cheesy (of course) I'd only recommend this to the die hard High School Musical fans because clearly it was made more for them!
Story: 2/10
Characters: 2/10
Songs: 2/10
Overall: 2/10