For the past two years, it’s been practically impossible to escape from all the buzz surrounding High School Musical, a Disney Channel Original Movie. I’m not saying that all the buzz has been positive; it hasn’t. Nevertheless, so many people talked about the movie and the music, and the film was such a hit with the pre-teen crowd that the relatively unknown cast members became overnight celebrities — and, in the case of Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens, regular fixtures in the tabloids.

I have to admit that I finally broke down and rented the DVD just because I wanted to see what the big deal was all about. And while I did feel a bit foolish while watching High School Musical, at least I’ve satisfied my curiosity.

Plot summary (with possible spoilers): The film opens at a ski lodge on New Year’s Eve. We meet two teens, Troy (played by Efron) and Gabriella (Hudgens), neither of whom join in the festivities until prodded by their parents. Once at the party, the DJ convinces them to sing a karaoke duet — and they’re both surprisingly good. They trade cell phone numbers, and then go their separate ways.

Back at school at East High School in Albuquerque, Troy goes back to being the ultra-popular captain of the basketball team that the entire student body adores. The championship game is coming up soon, and the coach, who also happens to be Troy’s father, says that college scouts will be there too. It’s a big opportunity for Troy, so he has to focus.

Meanwhile, we see that by some strange twist of fate, Gabriella has transferred to East as well. It doesn’t take long for her to hook up with Troy again, and they both tentatively discuss their duet from New Year’s Eve. Maybe they should try out for the school musical, Gabriella casually says. They both laugh, as Troy is busy with basketball and Gabriella has the scholastic decathlon team to think about. Besides, what would Troy’s friends say if they knew he enjoyed singing?

But, as things often do in the movies, one thing leads to another, and Troy and Gabriella end up auditioning for the musical after all — much to the chagrin of resident drama club queen Sharpay (Ashley Tisdale) and twin brother Ryan (Lucas Grabeel). When Troy and Gabriella are actually good, Sharpay and Ryan start scheming for a way to prevent them from attending callbacks.

The rest of the film then deals with how Troy tries to come to terms with his love for singing. Can he balance the musical with basketball? Can he face his friends once they find out that he enjoys singing show tunes? Will he and Gabriella be able to overcome Sharpay and Ryan’s efforts to steal the show?

It’s a Disney movie, so what do you think!

My Reaction: First off, I want to say that the acting in High School Musical was incredibly cheesy all the way around. It reminded me of every dumb after-school special that I ever watched on TV, or of the way the kids on Saved By the Bell acted. But maybe the director wanted to go for that effect, since this was a musical and all. Who knows.

At any rate, even though the acting was bad and the story was utterly predictable from beginning to end, I thought the movie was kind of fun in its own way. I couldn’t get through the whole thing in one sitting because the plot unfolded rather slowly, but the movie wasn’t as unwatchable as I initially feared.

I can totally see why pre-teen girls would go crazy over Zac Efron, and now understand why there are sequel(s) to this film. I guess this proves that you don’t have to turn in Oscar-worthy performances to get noticed these days. A pretty face still goes a long way in Hollywood.

Overall, High School Musical was not my thing. However, it does have a lot of appeal for its intended demographic, and puts out a positive message, thereby making it a decent family film. I give it 3 stars out of 5.