Plot summary (with possible spoilers): Troy Bolton (played by Zac Efron), Gabriella Montez (Vanessa Hudgens), and the rest of the East High School Wildcats are looking forward to summer vacation. They won’t just be hanging out and partying, however. They’ve got to think about their futures, which means getting jobs and saving money for college.
Things start off well on that front, as Sharpay Evans (Ashley Tisdale) arranges for Troy to get a job at the Lava Springs Country Club, where her parents are on the board of directors. Of course, she didn’t do this out of the goodness of her heart. She has her eyes set on Troy and will do anything she can to wrestle him away from Gabriella. Sharpay’s plans hit an initial snag when she learns to her horror that Troy wrangled jobs for all of his friends, too — including Gabriella.
Still, Sharpay isn’t willing to give up on Troy so quickly. She separates him from the rest of the group by pulling him off kitchen duty to have him caddy for her father. While on the course, Sharpay talks Troy up, and convinces her father to put in a good word at the local university so Troy can get a basketball scholarship. The price? Troy has to sing wih Sharpay in the Lava Springs talent show instead of doing a number with his friends. Troy reluctantly agrees.
The favorable treatment Troy receives does not go unnoticed by his classmates. While they’re slaving away in the kitchen, Troy is relaxing by the pool with Sharpay, working on his tan. This causes the main conflict that lasts throughout most of the film — until Troy realizes what a jerk he’s been and apologizes to his crew. From there, everyone makes up, puts on a great show, and emerges from the summer as friends.
Liked:
- Honestly, there wasn’t much I liked about this one. I was babysitting for some tweens who insisted on watching this, so I thought I’d check it out. It was just terrible.
Disliked:
- None of the musical numbers struck me as particularly good or memorable. The one on the baseball field was ridiculous, and the one at the very end was just cheesy. The rest? Meh…except perhaps at the show when Gabriella came out to sing the duet with Troy.
- I keep reading about how Zac Efron is some young god with a perfect body, perfect hair, and perfect skin. I can understand why the girls would swoon over the first two, but I watched this on Blu-ray and his bumpy skin was a distraction in some scenes — especially the one where he was on the golf course with Gabriella that first time.
- The “plot”, such as it was, was as cliched and predictable as anything I’ve seen in a long time. There was absolutely nothing instructive or entertaining about it at all. In fact, the main message seemed to be: Be true to your friends, regardless of what it means for your future. Is that the right message to convey to high school students? Troy had a chance to get ahead and get a scholarship that would help secure his future. Isn’t that at least as important as maintaining friendships?
- The Ryan character has to be one of the most annoying I’ve ever seen in a movie. Why not just let him come out as gay already and not go through the dumb charade???? Oh, yeah — cuz this is a Disney movie, that’s why.
Rating:
I am not in the target audience, so I doubt that my review of High School Musical 2 will carry much weight with anyone. But wow, this was just a terrible movie that only girls with a massive crush on Zac Efron would like or appreciate. I give this film 1 star out of 5.
My family is planning on going on a cruise to Alaska in two years. We’ve been saving for a couple years already, and are on target to accumulate the required funds by 2012. In the meantime, I want to get to know as much about Alaska as possible so I can appreciate all the stunning sights I’m sure to see while on the cruise. Towards that end, I’m reading James Michener’s novel Alaska, and am interested in watching various documentaries, such as 2008′s Over Alaska, which originally aired on PBS.
I enjoy watching documentaries every now and then, so long as they’re not political in nature (I’m looking at you, Michael Moore). Documentaries can be a fun way to learn more about a topic I’m interested in, and as a bonus, they’re often beautifully photographed, making them easy to watch again and again. 
I usually don’t enjoy action “blockbusters” to the extent that I want to run right out and buy them on DVD as soon as they’re available. I don’t mind sitting in the theater for a couple hours of mindless entertainment while I soak up the air conditioning and chow down on some popcorn, but these aren’t really the types of films that I’d go out of my way to own — except if we’re talking about the Bourne trilogy. This series, which consists of The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy, and The Bourne Ultimatum, is a great one, and each film should be watched several times to catch all the nuances that might have been missed the first time around.
I don’t watch many foreign films at all. I hate to admit this, but I’m used to the way Hollywood tells stories, and am a bit impatient at the way some foreign films take their sweet time to get to the point. Plus, there’s the whole issue with subtitles, which gets tiresome after a while. I guess I’m just not cultured enough to appreciate some arts!
I truly enjoy documentaries, particularly the ones about space, the ocean, or the earth itself. The natural world holds so many fascinating mysteries that I will never get tired of exploring them through the eyes of talented filmmakers. That’s why I really want to get my hands on this 
I am not very familiar with Paul Newman’s early work, though I do consider myself a fan. I thoroughly enjoyed more recent films like Road to Perdition, The Color of Money, Blaze, and Cars. I even liked slightly older stuff like Slap Shot and The Sting. But if we go back any farther than that, I’m pretty much at a loss as to what Newman’s filmography looks like.
Stephen King is one of my favorite writers. His novels are usually interesting, with great characters and wonderful supernatural elements, a combination that practically ensures a fun reading experience. Unfortunately, his books don’t always translate very well to the silver screen. I don’t even know how many of his novels and short stories have been adapted into films, but it’s definitely in double digits. Surprisingly, I don’t own any Stephen King films (beyond 1986′s Stand By Me).
I used to be a huge Alfred Hitchcock fan when I was a kid. I subscribed to the mystery magazine bearing his name, I bought any book with his name on it, and scanned the TV guide each and every week to see when Alfred Hitchcock Presents would be on (it seemed to change days and time quite frequently). 
I’m a recent convert to the exceptional quality of Blu-ray discs. Ever since we got our PS3 a few months ago and watched a Blu-ray movie on it, I’ve been wanting to rent or buy that format exclusively. The problem, of course, is that the better quality costs extra money — often two or three times more than the same film on DVD.