Review of High School Musical 2 (2007) by Allison B — 21 May 2012

School's out for the summer and the East High wildcats are preparing themselves for the harsh reality of finding work for the next three months. Troy, Gabriella, Chad and Taylor land on their feet by scoring jobs at a country club owned family of songsters. A love triangle between Troy, Gabriella and Sharpay - the club owner's daughter - soon develops and Troy must choose between the temptations thrown his way by Sharpay and his loyalty and love for the Wildcats and Gabriella...

The High School Musical gang returns in a sequel but is this any good? The story is mediocre and it's improved from the first movie but its way more predictable and more cheesy than the first, which I didn't think was possible. The characters weren't done very well but we got to see a lot more of Taylor who is played by the beautiful Monique Coleman. There wasn't really much character development from any of the characters except for Ryan who was played by Lucas Grabeel who wants to have his time in the spotlight instead of his fame-obsessed sister Sharpay. The acting is yet again mediocre in this installment but it's a lot better this time round, Zac Efron actually did a better job playing as basketball star Troy and Vanessa Hudgens was, as usual, great as Gabriella. The songs are also a lot better and catchier than the first as well as the dance routines. The choreography and the dances were executed well and the songs were a lot better. There were a couple that were stuck in my head after watching the movie, one being 'What Time Is It?'. The big song that was supposed to be the best song in the movie was great but it was forgettable. Also the singing is a lot better too. High School Musical 2 is enjoyable and watchable.

High School Musical, for me, was a decent movie but this was better but not by much. Yeah the story has improved and so have the characters and the songs but it still remains to be seriously cheesy which isn't really a bad thing since you expect it. I liked the songs and enjoyed the dances and the movie was decent, it's definitely stuck to its target audience. Even though it was a little bit better than the first, it still hasn't changed that much to make my score go higher than a six.