Genre: Musical, Romance, Family
Rating: C+
The third and, thankfully, the final installation in the High School Musical series, High School Musical 3: Senior Year picks up as the Wildcats are preparing for their high school graduation and the spring musical. Kelsi (Rulin) has signed up everyone for the show and Gabriella (Hudgens) convinces them to do it - because, of course, singing and dancing still isn't cool, even though this is the third film in the series about the same kids singing and dancing. It's also revealed that four of the students (Kelsi, Sharpay (Tisdale), Ryan (Grabeel), and Troy (Efron)) are being considered for one scholarship to Juilliard. Gabriella, meanwhile, has been accepted to Stanford and has an opportunity to go early, despite the fact that she's committed herself to the spring musical.
The overall story of this movie is somewhere in between High School Musical and High School Musical 2. Once again there is a complete revert to start in terms of character development, Sharpay, Ryan, and the Wildcat boys having learned nothing from their experiences in the first two films. The whole "we have to convince everyone to participate in the musical because they think that singing and dancing is lame" plot is lamer than singing and dancing appears to be in this universe. It's been done to death and just in the course of three movies. Likewise, the Sharpay is an evil bitch plot has been done to death. I'd be fine with it if at the end of each movie she didn't seem to grow as a person and realize that her actions are wrong. This is also seen, to a lesser extent, with Ryan, although his turn face isn't nearly as complete. I was, however, really satisfied with the way that the plot was resolved - although I was rather annoyed by Gabriella's behaviour. To me, it was rather un-Gabriella like, although I will say that it was a nice change in pace; usually I'm annoyed by Troy's behaviour.
In terms of music and general production, High School Musical 3 is far better than it's predecessors, a clear sign of its inflated budget. Of the three films this was the only one to be released in theatres, the other two having been TV movies. The music isn't oh my God amazing, but it's catchy and even features a bit of a shout out to the earlier movies. The singing is still good and the lyrics aren't too ridiculous. The musical numbers are also a lot flashier. They looked more like what you would expect from a Disney type movie.
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