We conclude our look at Disney Channel Musicals with the High School Musical that doesn’t take place at High School, High School Musical 2.
High School Musical has been the benchmark for Disney
Channel Musicals since its inception. It was one of the most successful
original movies Disney ever produced for the Disney Channel, so High School
Musical 2 had a lot to live up to. And looking at the figures it succeeded, it
was and still is the most commercially successful Disney Channel Movie
produced, with a song from the soundtrack peaking at number 6 on the Billboard
Hot 100 in the US. The success was so wide-felt that its sequel went for a
cinematic release with a bigger budget.
Does it hold up? Let’s take a look.
It’s summer time and that means all the students are… making
a mess and staging an elaborate musical number, makes sense. Whilst fun is on
the agenda, many students, including Troy and Gabriella have to consider making
money to go towards college. [Or not going, you know, that’s also an option] but Sharpay
has plans of her own, wanting her and Troy to become East High’s power couple
and gets him, and, by extension [also by accident], a good chunk of the cast,
jobs at her family’s resort.
In attempts to make her mark, she uses her wealth and
influence to keep Troy away from the others and seduces him with a
higher-paying job, and access to influential people to help with his
application and maybe even get him a scholarship, but ultimately her goal is to
get him to spend time with her and her family. And also have them sing together
on a hotel run talent show where she’s the only talent and wins every year. But
as Troy is open to a lot of things Sharpay is putting on the table, is he
willing to sacrifice his friends and Gabriella to gain it?
First thing’s first, and major improvement over the original
High School Musical, they’ve written songs in Zac Efron’s tenor and hence he’s
actually singing them solo this time. Considering I found the audio mixing to
produce the old voice ear-bleedingly bad in the first one this is a welcome
relief. The songs are a mixed bag though, with the 2 focused around Sharpay the
two I dislike the most.
Not to say there aren’t some great songs. “Summer time”
reached a high chart rank for a reason, shallow though it may be, “I don’t
dance” is great and Troy’s solo “Bet on It” is up there with my personal
favourites.
Troy is front and centre as the main character in this one,
Gabriella is once again given a lesser role which is a shame, as there was
potential for her to do more. Sharpay is the other main character, with her
brother Ryan serving a supporting role with his own little arc where he sees
that Sharpay is willing to leave him behind to serve herself and makes the
choice to break out on his own.
So, I guess I have to address the “Sharpay did nothing wrong
crowd” the internet mantra that Sharpay did all this stuff for Troy and all he
had to do was sing with her. OK, I could list the multiple reasons why this is
bullshit. But before we get to that, a quick critique on how Troy’s arc is
developed. He’s obviously uncomfortable with being around Sharpay, and that’s
clear throughout but him being a ‘jerk’ is surmised in 2 scenes, one where he
sends back a burger because it has the wrong cheese, and the other where he
blows off his friends to play basketball with a bunch of pros. Yes he missed
some dates but those were down to Sharpay’s machinations so I don’t count them
as part of his arc. It’s not really done that well it could’ve done with a few
moments being sprinkled in earlier.
OK, but Sharpay has taken the role of antagonist of the
film, heck, I will call her the villain. Remember the only reason she is doing
any of this is because she believes that her and Troy should be a power couple.
She gets him hired to that end but it’s the hotel manager, Thomas Fulton, who
makes the call to hire everyone else. All fine, but then she tells him to make
the others want to leave by treating them like shit. And because he’s an
employee with a mortgage he doesn’t have a choice but to obey.
So, she’s deliberately isolating Troy by giving him
preferential treatment he didn’t ask for. And she’s oblivious at best to the
discomfort that Troy is experiencing in nearly every scene he’s with her. She
makes every effort to split the two up to which Troy is completely oblivious to and Gabriella only catches on way too late. She’s using emotional manipulation,
and what them singing together means in symbolic terms is important since the
song she wanted them to sing was meant for him and Gabriella.
So no, Sharpay is not innocent, she deserves the humbling
she gets in the film, particularly near the end. It was kind of fitting that
the person who both deals the cruellest blow and ultimately comes to her rescue
is Ryan, who gets his time to shine outside of Sharpay’s shadow in this one.
Whilst High School Musical 2 doesn’t hit every ball that
comes its way, it has a pretty high batting average [it’s a baseball reference
– laugh] with some memorable songs scattered throughout and some defining
performances to boot. It doesn’t need to be in High School to be a good High
School Musical.
Rating 75/10
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