Review of Grease (1978) by Abby Z — 04 Dec 2015

Summer Lovin'.

Randal Kleiser's Grease is the one that you want: a perfectly orchestrated musical that is fun and lively and a splendid two-hours of entertainment. While it may not be as visually stunning as more contemporary musicals such as Les Miserable or Into the Woods, and despite its sappy melodrama and tired storyline, Grease just works.

The high school romance is a tale that isn't unfamiliar to this generation. The Disney series High School Musical recreates the same high school set up; the comedic cliques, two unlikely lovers, and of course the influence of friends but Grease pioneered this teen storyline and it's a movie classic that can speak to a young audience of the hardships and adventures in high school, of course through singing and dancing--there's no other way. The love affair of actors Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens in High School Musical is a fantasy high school romance every teen wants, a fantasy teen romance first captured between Danny and Sandy in their "Summer Lovin" down on the beach.

The singing and dancing play an essential role in developing the story of Grease, it creates a lively environment for the audience, definitely a summer loving classic, filled with infectiously catchy songs and a high school love story that never gets old.

From the minute the credits roll with the opening song "Grease is the Word," to the concluding "You're the One That I Want" it's hard not to sing along and I'd be lying if I said I didn't wish I spent my high school days at Rydell. John Travolta and his T-bird gang singing and dancing on the bleachers during the confession of his "Summer Lovin" to Olivia Newton-John's "Hopeless Devotion" makes the dramatized story that much better.

Yes, there is melodramatic split screen fantasies and the ridiculous flying-off-into-the-sunset climax, but far from ruining the movie these elements are why fans have been quoting Grease for generations and singing the soundtrack through all life's problems--simply because there is nothing else like it. For someone who has never seen this movie before, it might be easy to dismiss this it for its melodramatic characters, its thirty-something actors playing high schoolers and high school cinema cliches, but the great music, strong performances, and John Travolta's Elvis Presley vibe make this movie worth watching.