There's nothing quite like going to a movie about high school seniors with a theater full of pre-schoolers and their moms. And, honestly, both age groups seemed to be really into it. Even weirder: So was I.
The Story
As one of the characters sings, "You can't stay in high school forever." After battling their way to one more basketball championship, the seniors immediately start feeling the pressure of getting everything done before high school ends. No way do they have time for one more musical! Oh, come on, of course they do.
Between rehearsals, Troy (Zac Efron) wrestles with a decision between playing basketball with Chad at his dad's former college or maybe going to Juilliard in New York to study theater to pursue his own dreams. Either way, Gabriella (Vanessa Hudgens) is bracing herself to say goodbye to Troy and the gang when she heads off to Stanford.
Sharpay (Ashley Tisdale) is plotting to make herself the star of the musical while brother Ryan (Lucas Grabeel) choreographs the show in hopes of getting into Juilliard himself.
No matter what, the show must go on with all the singing and dancing and the joyful exuberance and the embracing of the future.
The Verdict
What we thought of the movie on its own terms
What works: The singing and the dancing works. The joyful exuberance works. The cast is still likable and fun to watch. But those things alone should not be enough to make HSM3 as good of a time as it is.
Here's the difference: The story and every performance is completely free from irony, sarcasm, and attitude. It is all utterly earnest and sincere and bold. In that way, it's just old fashioned "theater" with the kids belting out the tunes for the cheap seats. It becomes cool in a way by being the least cool thing imaginable, by taking its approach completely seriously.
That commitment works well enough to pull you into the big singing and dancing emotions playing out at the end of the film. It's not Shakespeare, but I left with a touch of that happy energy you feel walking out of a good high school production at your own school that turned out way better than you would have expected.
What Doesn't Work: After the basketball intro, the energy sags and takes quite a while to pick up again. The non-singing parts of the story sometimes just limp along predictably. Zac Efron is becoming a pretty good actor; the rest of the cast doesn't keep up. You'll get zero street cred for liking this if you're over 15 or so. Or if you're a guy.
Content: This G-rated Disney film is pretty much squeaky clean, aside from a little cleavage and Troy and Gabriella hanging in her room on the sly from her mom (without doing anything more than quick kisses).
Worldview
How the film's take on life compares with a biblical perspective
Of course, the HSM high school experience doesn't exist in the real world. You might get closer if you took the stay-out-all-night, openly gay and drunk, ironic/sarcastic kids from "Nick & Nora's Infinite Playlist" and averaged them out with the HSM kids.
Real or not, though, the questions these kids are singing and dancing about are the genuine article: Should I try to take this high school romance into my college years? Should I stay local or go away to school? How can I balance what my parents want for me with my own dreams? Wait; do I have any dreams?
One thing I liked was the way Troy talked Gabriella into participating in the end of her high school experience. He said with lovable and corny earnestness: "You might be ready to say goodbye to East High, but East High isn't ready to say goodbye to you."
My takeaway: It's not all about you and what you want. Troy models that advice when he shares the glory at the end of the big game at the start of the film. He could have listened to it a little more when constantly agonizing over what to do with his life.
One danger of being a senior in high school is falling into a giant tar pit of self-focus it can take years to claw your way out of. Everyone is asking what you want to do with your life. Everyone is asking how you feel about the end of this era and how you feel about the future. Everyone is asking you to decide what you want, who you want to be, how you want to get there.
It's as if the whole world wants you to do nothing but think about yourself Ñ and compare yourself to everyone else Ñ with every spare moment you have. The big message: It's all about you.
If you really want to make the most of your high school career, try something radical: Make it as little about you as possible. Worry less about your status and your future than about building up all those people around you. What are they feeling? What are their hopes and dreams? How can you serve them and make them successful before you move on to the next season?
It's how Jesus would do high school. And here's the weird thing about making everything about everyone else: It will probably make you strangely popular and respected, because people liked being liked. And they trust someone who doesn't serve herself first.
Oh, and dance around and sing a lot. People love that, too. Especially when you're playing basketball.
Questions:
- If you're a fan of the franchise, which HSM is the best? Was this one as good as you hoped?
- Which member of the gang do you relate to the most? Why?
- Is the HSM high school experience anything like yours (aside from everyone breaking into song on a regular basis)?
- Do you do theater or drama? What's your favorite moment from those experiences?
- Do you ever worry that you spend too much time and energy focused on yourself? What could you do to change that? Who could you focus on instead?
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