Where the second volume paled in comparison to the first, High School Musical 3: Senior Year rises to the challenge, becoming one of 2008's finest releases.
HSM3 finds the whole gang back in top form and on the verge of graduation. Troy (Zac Efron) is deciding whether to follow his father's footsteps or his own ambitions. Gabriella (Vanessa Hudgens) is faced with abandoning her boyfriend for scholarship. And there's the usual plot of a musical and high school basketball. Were it not for the film's brilliant analysis of destiny, all this would be irrelevant. But screenwriter Peter Barsocchini captures the feelings of adolescence like no other writers can.
HSM3 shines brightest in production. Like the best Broadway show, Kenny Ortega's direction challenges the boundaries of both the stage and film musical. Many musical numbers seem to be direct adaptations from the stage but exploit the full potential of the screen, eclipsing even Baz Lurhmann's vision of the film musical. Moreover, the movie manages to entertain while honoring entertainment. The film's vast frame of references ranges from Grease to Bill & Ted to The Warriors and Kill Bill. HSM3 also embraces everything wonderful and awful about movie musicals-implicit homoeroticism, blissful unawareness of real-world socioeconomics and strange awkwardness that ensues after a musical number. Ortega even has the brains to elude to the phenomenon as well as to Hudgens' nude pics. Yes, he makes reference to tabloid-headlining underage nude photos.
The songs and acting are not perfect. But the entertainment values soar so high-or, as Gabriella says, "High school wasn't meant to last forever."
We can only wish this film would.
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