HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL 2

All right everyone! Sing it! "Humuhumunukunukuapua'a!" Wait... what?

If you are a fan of the original High School Musical, and were clutching yourself with anticipation during the long wait for the sequel, I'm sure you'll practically wet yourself with joy during the fabulous opening number of High School Musical 2. The kids are in a classroom, and the clock is ticking down to the end of the school day. They are squirrelly with excitement, counting down: "Summer... summer... summer..." until click, and they literally explode out of their seats in song and dance to "What Time Is It? (Summertime)".

It is an exuberant and infectious start to a sequel that has a really tough time matching the freshness of the original. Since the original HSM, the young actors' squeaky-clean faces have become ubiquitous, Zac Efron has become a breakout star, schools and theaters across the country have launched their own musical productions of the show, and the Disney Channel has shown the film so many times that it would make any parent's eyeballs melt out of their sockets. HSM2 has a lot to live up to. Does it succeed? Yes, and no.

The basic plot of HSM2 is this: It is summer vacation, and all of the kids have jobs at the local country club, ranging from lifeguard to kitchen cook (!) to golf caddy. That is, except Sharpay (Ashley Tisdale) and her chapeau-wearing sidekick brother Ryan (Lucas Grabeel), whose parents just so happen to run the whole place. Competitive and catty Sharpay has set her sights on cute-as-pie singing jock Troy (Zac Efron) despite the fact that he is still besotted with Gabriella (the charisma-free Vanessa Hudgens), and despite the fact that her singing partner has always been Ryan. So sets up a summer of manupulation, backbiting, hurt feelings, and lots of song and dance. Oh, and did I mention the annual country-club talent show at the end of summer?

Despite the strong beginning, including Sharpay's funny and colorful swimming-pool ditty "Fabulous" that evokes Busby Berkeley/Esther Williams choreography, the film slowly starts to peter out about halfway through. You start to recognize that HSM2 is copying the formula of HSM exactly. Like HSM, there is a sports-themed song ("I Don't Dance"), but baseball bats are used as dancing props instead of basketballs. There is a ballad written by Kelsi (Olesya Rulin) especially for Troy and Gabriella, which Troy hesitantly refuses to sing, but then joins in enthusiastically, crooning at his girl without looking at the lyric sheet. And there are lots of catty comments and outrageous outfits from Sharpay.

The cheese hits a high (or low) point when Zac Efron is given an angstful and angry solo song ("Bet On It") to emote his frustration about being torn from all sides. It is like the filmmakers pushed the new star into the limelight to show him off and to please the squealing audience. Except seeing Efron, dressed in black, stomping his feet, and doing a poor-white-boy's best Michael Jackson imitation out in the red sand dunes just comes across as inintentionally guffaw-inducing. This scene symbolizes why HSM2 is a bit off: The troupe has become conscious of their success, but are locked in by the limitations of what the audience wants. More of the same doesn't leave much room for improvement.

  DVD NOTES  

Once again, the High School Musical crew have put together a DVD package that should please the most-casual to the most-hardcore fans. You can karaoke along to all the songs, plus go behind the scenes of the choreography and work that went into the elaborate song and dance numbers. These snippets are fascinating and frankly exhausting to watch. I may not have gotten up from the couch, but watching these young actors huff and puff and repeat the moves over and over to perfection is a workout in itself (in my book at least). The extended-edition DVD also offers one new scene, which is integrated right into the film, the Hawaiian-themed "Humuhumunukunukuapua'a" (performed by Sharpay and Ryan). Personally, I thought the song went on too long and had too many syllables, but it adds a bridge for certain plot points, so fits well into the story.