High School Musical Film Review

There are few things that are well and truly iconic as alot of them are forgotten about not that long after there released. Yet with the film that i'm going to be talking to you all about today that just simply wasn't true as this film spawned an entire franchise that is still going strong to this very day as it spawned sequels , several TV shows , a spin-off film and a live concert yet it's the it's the first film that alot of people seem to remember the most and so the join me as I review the film that is now officially over TWENTY years old with the film in question being called simply just "High School Musical" enjoy.

The plot of this film is when a high school basketball star and the schools nerdy girl audition for a school musical they find themselves growing closer. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty not that bad with the plot of this film basically being a more modern retelling of Romeo & Juliet only without the tragic ending which to be fair is something that does work well for this film as it does allow for them to tell a really well done love story in a plot that kids twenty years ago would be able to understand with this films plot quite clearly speaking to alot of people as people to this very day still do talk about this film and it's plot and while yes the plot of this film could have been done alot more better as the film doesn't really focus on it's plot alot of the time with the film picking up and dropping it's plot several times in the film not so much that it hurts the film as the films plot is pretty weak at best but it's done enough times that we the audience so start to notice it when it happens with the film being more bothered about giving us alot of songs then it is in giving us a well thought out plot as this is a plot that would have worked all the more if the makers of this film did put just as much effort into giving us a well thought out plot then they do into giving us alot of song with the plot of this film also being really rather entertaining and as well as being really rather engaging as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. 

Starring in this film is Zac Efron as Troy Bolton , Vanessa Hudgens as Gabriella Montez and Ashley Tisdale as Sharpay Evans. Also starring in this film is Lucas Grabeel as Ryan Evans , Alyson Reed as Ms. Darbus , Corbin Bleu as Chad Danforth , Monique Coleman as Taylor McKessie , Olesya Rulin as Kelsi Nielsen , Chris Warren Jr. as Zeke Baylor , Ryne Sanborn as Jason Cross and Bart Johnson as Jack Bolton.

Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty not that bad. With all of this films actors turning in some really solid performances in this film something which was completely shocking as you don't really expect good acting not only from made for TV movie but also from a Disney Channel Original Movie and yet that's exactly what we get in this film and while yes this films acting could have been alot more better then what it was given he fact that alot of this films actors were a bunch of unknowns at the time this films acting really did turn out to be alot more better then what it really had any right to be with this being due to the fact that this film had an experienced director in Kenny Ortega with him knowing how to get a good performance out of all of his young performers a sill which is put to great use in this film with the best actor in the film is really kind of hard to say as by all rights any of this films young actors could make that claim and it could be totally justified as there all just so good in this film but if push came to shove then the best actor in this film would have be Zac Efron just because of the fact he was really good in this film with him seeming like the only character who is at least trying to put in a performance that helps to elevate the film on the whole with the acting that's in this film really being helped by the fact that the script for this film is just so good that all this films actors have to do is just say the lines as they are written and a good performance will come out of them naturally which is something that really does help to raise the overall quality of the acting that's in this very film.

It would be hard to say that this films characters are any good as truth be told there not which is something that you do expect in a Disney Channel Original Movie. As when you think of Disney Channel Original Movies you don't usually think of good characters rather you think of the most basic and bland characters that you can think of as these films were more often then not written and filmed very quickly with the same thig being true for this film and it's characters as this film has nothing in it that makes the characters standout and feel fresh and new as there all just the basic character that you've seen done better in other movies with Troy being the typical sports jock who has a passion for singing , Gabriella is the typical nerdy kid who has stage fright yet also has a passion for singing and Sharpay is the schools mean girl character who is only looking out for herself and that's it and while these character tropes do work in this film it also makes this film feel alot more empty as you see all of the potential that the characters had if they had better writing and yet for one reason or another the franchises creator Peter Barsocchini gives us bland characters with it being made clear that the intention with these characters wasn't to give us fully thought out characters who have likes and dislikes that are unique to them rather it was to give us characters the films target audience could see themselves in which is fine as this films target audience was little kids but there still needs to be some meat to these characters to help make them more memorable then what they actually are in the first place and not be the bland characters that we ended up getting.

As was mentioned near the start of this review this film is basically a more modern Disneyfied version of Romeo & Juliet. With this films romance being handled as well as it could have done given then fact that this is a made for TV Disney Channel Original Movie which does mean that things regarding the romance do have to get rushed like the fact that the couple meet up again in the very next scene after first meeting each other with them falling in love with each other pretty much right away and while it is understandable why things were done like that as this film doesn't have that long of a running time and the film does have to fit in quite alot of songs as well it would would have helped the film out quite alot if we got to see Troy and Gabriella go out with each other and form that romantic chemistry in a way that feels more natural instead of having it all done over the course of the films opening song as while there is such a thing as love at first sight when you building your whole film around this romance you do expect them to spend more time on developing that romance rather then have be in the back ground for a large portion of the films running time so much so that you do forget that they are meant to be madly in love with each other with this being something that does make the whole Romeo & Juliet aspect of the film feel more watered down as while both Troy and Gabriella will of course not kill each other you do still need to believe in there romance with the only aspect of the Romeo & Juliet part of the film that does work is the jocks vs nerds idea that the film runs with for a little while as that is something that does help to make that Romeo & Juliet aspect feel more modern with it's only down side being he fact that the film drops the jocks vs nerds angel not long it starts it.

This film does deserve alot of credit as it did something that no Disney Channel Original Movie both before and since was able to do. That being to have a sequel that got a theatrical release as while the second movie did air on the Disney Channel as a Disney Channel Original Movie it's third movie was given a big theatrical release with this being because of the fact that both this movie and it's first sequel High School Musical 2 got huge ratings for Disney Channel with High School Musical 2's rating still being the channels highest earning rating for a movie with over seventeen million viewers watching that film when it first premiered back in 2007 that is something that does show you that this franchise is one that was here to stay and heck to this day we still here news and rumors about a potential fourth movie and given that Camp Rock 3 is releasing this year who know maybe it might actually happen this time around and yet the one thing that this film did was spawn a clone movie that being oddly enough Camp Rock which followed a very similar set up to this movie and it did just as well as what this film did as well with the only thing that makes the two stand out being the fact that this film was made with love and passion where as with Camp Rock it was quite clearly being made to chase after this films audience which isn't a bad thing as a film that was as popular as this film was was always going to spawn clones be it from other studios or from other direct to DVD movies but nobody was expecting a clone movie to happen from the same studio as that's something that makes no sense as they made this film so why would they want to make a clone of it in the first place.

It really hard to say just who it is that wrote this films songs as there are no songwriters listed anywhere online. However the films songs are just as catchy as you remember them being which is something that does make alot of sense as Disney even back in 2006 was known for making some really good musicals with it being made clear as day that the makers of this film put alot more effort into giving us some really good songs then they did quite literally anything else as it's in  the films songs where the film does start to come alive and be all the more entertaining because of it with the thing that helps to make the films songs be as good as they are being the fact the musical segments are handled alot more better then the rest of the film with this being because of the fact that this films director Kenny Ortega was also one of the films choreographers something which does help to make the films musical segments be all the more fun to watch with the film having some really decent songs it like for example "Get'cha Head In The Game" is a fun rap like song where Troy has to deal with his new found feelings of wanting to sing more with Gabriella whilst also hiding this passion from his friends and "Stick To The Status Quo" with that song being about wanting to keep things the exact same way as they are with the best song n the film being either "Breaking Free" or "We're All In This Together" as both songs are a pair of really good songs that are really well sung as while Zac Efron doesn't sing all that much in this film with most of his singing being done by Drew Seeley Zac's small amount of singing is decent and it does make the film all the more funnier as it's really obvious when it's Zac singing and when it's Drew singing.

Now then this film has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly one hour and thirty seven minuets and forty seven seconds. Which to be fair to this film is pretty much the bogstandard running time for alot of Disney Channel Original Movies with this film having the right amount of plot there to really cover that amount of running time in the first place yet with that in mind this film doesn't use it's running time all that wisely as the film doesn't take the time to fully develop it's plot with the film being more focused on giving us a song number every few minuets then it is in giving us a well thought out plot which is something that does make this film feel alot more like an advertisement for the films soundtrack then it does feel like a film in it's own and yet if the film did cut down on the amount of songs that it does have then it would allow for the film to add in scenes that would develop either it's main romance or it's plot both of which are more important to the film then having alot of songs are with this even effecting the films character development as while alot of Disney Channel Original Movies don't give there characters any kind of character development as these films are meant to have characters that the audience can see themselves in and that does mean that the films characters don't get any kind of character development yet the film would be so much more better if the film did devote some of it's running time to giving it's characters some kind of character development as that is something that would have made the film be all the more better then what it is in the first place but I really will admit that this film really does have some really good pacing to it tho.

So now then as this is a comedy that really does mean that I have to actually talk about the actual comedy that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual comedy that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty not that bad. With alot of this films jokes being really cute jokes that are still funny but they could have been more funnier then what they were with the makers of this film really knowing when to tell a joke and when to let the film be dramatic which is something that does make the film be alot more better then what you'd think it would be but as a comedy this film could have been alot more better as while yes the film does have some really funny jokes in it the film doesn't tell enough funny jokes in it to make it worth being called a comedy with the thing that makes the films comedy work being the films characters as they can be goofy enough that the jokes work with the best joke in the whole being when the team is cheering on the drama club with each member of the basketball team spelling out a letter with Troy being left to say explanation point which is a dumb joke true but it's also one that works in the scene with the only thing that lets alot of the jokes down being the fact that the make Ryan out to be the dumb one in the film which doesn't work and isn't as funny as it could have been but when the film does tell a good joke with him like him struggling to work out just what it is is the basketball is trying to say being something that is a pretty funny joke with the rest of the films jokes being just as cute as you'd want them to be in a film like this one in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.

Overall unless your like me and you saw this film when it first came out then it might be hard to work out just how massive that this film was and revisiting it now yes you do notice all of the flaws in the film yet you still end up enjoying the film as it is a film that is really campy and fun to watch in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well as all of the bad thigs that are in this very film in this very review and as such that really does mean that this very film really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly a 6.5 out of 10 from me.

Now then as where I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review well then boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from IMP wards . Com and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get the images from this very episode that I used in this very review being the really great Google Images really simply just due to the fact that really alot of if not really all of the images that are all really from this very episode with alot of them being really better quality then what you'd really think of and all of the images are really of course up and really on Google Images are also really all fairly high in quality and as well as them all being really fairly freaking high in definition.