Review of High School Musical 3: Senior Year (2008) by Keiko N — 25 Sep 2009

First I need to apologize for the long delay of this review. This review would have been up before the release of the film as I got special advanced preview passes, but because of the death of a family friend I was not able to attend. Of course other commitments had come up and my seeing this film had to be put on the back burner. Although almost a year later here it is, and yes Corey Gorewicz and Nikki Blonsky of Hairspray you can message Zac Efron and let him know I will start my latest banter against him. I'll e-mail the review to you both for forwarding.

Let me just say this movie was much better then second installment. Where the second felt rushed and the high school was noticeably absent, the thrid managed to redeem the franchise coming full circle. This movie had the passing of the torch theme but also the tragedy of saying goodbye to your old life. Frankly there was more element of realism and if you took away the singing and dancing this may have been en episode of Degrassi. The film covered growth and love in the real world, as well as change, and following your heart. They also went into the problem of initiations and hazing when Troy and Chad stole the clothes of two minors forcing them to run through the school in a towel. Yeah not exactly in character with the goodboy image we were led to believe, but it is hinted as being tradition and even the good boy had a dark side.

The characters are still the same with a few exception like the aforementione hazing. Troy and Gabriella hit another snag in their relationship. Ryan is coming into his own stepping out of his sister's shadow. Sharpay is still the spoiled-little rich girl who will do whatever it takes to get what she wants. Unfortunetly I felt the rest of the regulars were underminded and not given their moment to shine. We do learn a lot more about Troy and Chad's childhood, and as great as that moment -- actually a song called "The Boys are Back" -- was character development on the rest of the cast could have been used. This is not where the movie loses points in my mind.

Let's talk about the next generation, Jimmy, Donny, and Tiara, whom are foreshadowed to be the next Troy, Chad, and Sharpay. I think they got the bum wrap in the deal. Talk about underused. I felt they could have made this movie 20 minutes longer just so we can explore their characters more. I mean why was Jimmy called "The Rocket"? And why does he idolize Troy to the point of unhealthy obsession? Donny was hardly in it and his and Jimmy's friendship could have been explored more throughly. Tiara's backstory was explained but her sole purpose was to give Sharpay a taste of her own medicine. Also maybe the three of them could have had their own song or dance number, something that shows they are more then potential filler. It will be interesting to see is they appear in the next installment, although rumour suggests we won't see them again.

Now I just want to make mention of actor Matt Prokop who played Jimmy "The Rocket" Zara, and my being being appointed his official expert on Flixster has nothing to do with what I'm about to say. I'll be honest readers keep your eye on this guy. I don't know why but when watching him preform I saw something that tells me he will go places in this industry. You can see it in his eyes and how he carries himself. Frankly, I'm willing to bet good money on him.

Well enough of the praising and review I think we all got the gist that I enjoyed this movie, flawed yes, but a fun ride. Whatever happens next we won't see the end of the franchise. It is goodbye for most of the original cast, and I beg Kenny Ortega to follow the advice Zac Efron said on SNL, "No one sings in college".