High School Musical
Directed by Kenny Ortega
Sophie (Grade 9)
4/5
High School Musical is about high schoolers Troy and Gabriella, who both want to sing and dance in the school play but are held back by their friends and the pressure of society to fit into a certain category of people.
I enjoyed watching this movie. It was a little cliche, but sweetly so, and is a great classic to watch.
The characters were pretty common in a typical high school; the basketball jocks and the book-smart nerds, which I felt made the story more relatable. I would have liked it if they had a few more weaknesses to counter their strengths. It would have made the characters more realistic and add more room for development. I would've also liked if Sharpay had a bit more depth in her character, other than being the stereotypical attention-craving, stuck-up drama queen.
I especially loved all the musical numbers in this movie. I've always heard some snippets of the songs growing up, but I didn't know where they came from until I watched this. It was cool to recognize some of the songs but hear them from a different perspective as well.
The romance in this movie was cliche. Because it's the first film of the trilogy, I didn't mind. I enjoy reading about a cliche beginning to a romance, as long as the whole love story isn't all sunshine and rainbows.
I recommend this film for high schoolers and older since I think they'd be able to relate to the movie more than younger children can.
Happy viewing!