Testing the maxim that happiness can’t be contrived, High School Musical 3: Senior Year
sets off a joy bomb, and attempts to charm tween-leaning audiences
through an explosion of primary colors, bright production design and
sheer, indefatigable force of will. The fact that the first film in the Disney
Channel’s huge hit TV movie series to receive a proper theatrical release is bluntly effective in its staged
cathartic moments but generally powered by a puttering dramatic engine didn’t seem to impair the
relentlessly chipper toe-tapper’s box office haul — the film grossed $250 million, with an impressive 64 percent of that total coming overseas.
The plot, as if you either didn’t already know, or simply didn’t care? Against the spring backdrop of their senior year, a half dozen students
at New Mexico’s Eastern High try to juggle competing interests for
their time and attention, and figure out the paths for their respective
futures. Fresh off winning their second state basketball championship,
school hunk and big-man-on-campus Troy (Zac Efron) seems destined to
follow in his father’s footsteps to the local university, by accepting
a basketball scholarship alongside his best friend Chad (Corbin Bleu).
Giving Troy pause, though, is the fact that his girlfriend Gabriella
(Vanessa Hudgens) is headed out-of-state to Stanford. As they
prepare for one last school musical, eagerly anticipated by the
self-involved Sharpay (Ashley Tisdale) and her more open-hearted twin
brother Ryan (Lucas Grabeel), the group’s drama teacher adds a wrinkle
to events by announcing that recruiters from Juilliard, the prestigious
performing arts academy, will be on hand to observe the award one
scholarship to a student at yet to be determined.
Returning
series director Kenny Ortega creates an immaculately presented fashion
showcase, and places a heavy emphasis on theatrical gesticulation that
makes High School Musical 3 seem ever solicitous of its
audience’s feelings, in ways perhaps contrived but no less forceful and
effective. A couple musical numbers are shot in seemingly hurried
fashion, with tight alternating close-ups, but the up-tempo songs generally work, even when trading in boys-are-back clichés, and for the most part
there’s a nice fleshing-out consistent with the bump in production
value from the previous made-for-television movies.
Somewhat
unfortunately, all the conflict here is of the paint-by-numbers variety,
even for teen dramas. Sharpay’s conniving and antagonism is rather
blithely dismissed, never carrying over to later scenes. Similarly,
because it’s not evidenced by actual friction in their relationship,
the emotional drift between Gabriella and Troy as they prepare for
different post-high school paths never seems like more than a set-up for song. Troy, too, often seems an incidental bystander in his own
unfolding future, the one exception to this being “My Own Dream,” which
is the movie’s requisite Footloose-style, solo freak-out
number, complete with shifting floor and ceiling dance bits to simulate
angsty teen disorientation and confusion. That said, there’s not
much in the film’s look or execution to dissuade embrace by its core
audience; the movie’s production design and overall packaging are slick, and the
performances are sunny and engaging.
Housed in a regular plastic Amaray case in turn stored in a glossy cardboard slipcover, High School Musical 3: Senior Year comes presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen, with a Dolby digital 5.1 surround sound audio track anchoring the aural presentation. The video transfer is solid, with crisp, bright colors, consistent blacks and no problems with artifacting or edge enhancement. The two-disc DVD showcases the extended version of the film, plus a smattering of not-very-lengthy supplemental features that exhibit an emphasis on quantity over quality. Hug-laden, EPK-style interviews with the cast total around six minutes, as do a collection of deleted scenes. There’s also a squeaky-clean (i.e., curse-free), three-minute blooper reel, which offers only marginal amusement. The other featurettes, the seven-minute “Night of Nights” and the two-and-a-half-minute “It’s All in the Dress,” spotlight the film’s big prom scene blowout musical number and all the prom costumes, respectively, and aren’t necessarily heavy on replay value. Granted, this entire series isn’t perhaps worthy of much deep psychological examination, but it would’ve actually been interesting to get a studio/executive perspective of what helped launch and shape High School Musical, and its sequels. Perhaps of most special note for extroverted tween audiences is the
disc’s sing-along feature, which lets viewers jump to a specific song or play the entire movie in this mode, with karaoke-style lyrics along the
bottom of the screen to assist in belting out tunes with the movie’s
characters. Finally, in addition to the theatrical trailer, there’s also a “DisneyFile” digital copy of the movie. To purchase the extended edition DVD via Amazon, click here. B- (Movie) B- (Disc)