Movie Review High School Musical 3

High School Musical 3 (2009) 

Directed by Kenny Ortega

Written by Peter Barsocchini 

Starring Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale, Lucas Grabeel

Release Date October 24th, 2009

Published October 25th, 2009

To criticize High School Musical 3 is not unlike disciplining a puppy. Sure he knocked over plants and a table, but he's so darn cute. You can't stay mad. High School Musical 3 didn't exactly knock over plants but it is exceptionally mediocre for such a nationwide phenomena.

Allow me to beat you to the punch. I am fully aware that this movie was not made with me in mind. High School Musical 3 exists specifically to entertain pre-teen girls. I get that. But, just because it may hit that target perfectly doesn't make it any less mediocre. Aww, puppy, I'm sorry.

Zac Efron from Hairspray stars in HSM3 as basketball star Troy Bolton. As we meet him, his team is losing the big game. However, there's no deficit that a big song and dance number cannot overcome. Thanks to a cameo from Troy's ethereal girlfriend Gabriela Vanessa Hudgens), angelic in flowing white and spotlight, Troy makes the big shot to tie the game and his team wins.

From there the focus shifts to the final big musical of the drama season for east high school seniors. Troy, Gabriela, Troy's buddy Chad (Corbin Bleu) and his girlfriend Taylor (Monique Coleman) are forced into the show by friendly, sweet drama nerd Kelsi (Oleysa Rulin). She needs her friends to avoid yet another all Sharpay show.

Sharpay Evans (Ashley Tisdale) along with her twin brother/choreographer Ryan (Lucas Grabeel) is the diva of the drama department. A clueless wannabe star, out only for her own glory, Sharpay provides what amounts to a plot as she schemes to get the big musical number away from Gabriela and get a kiss from Troy, even if it is just acting.

Don't worry, HSM3 was never going to let her get away with it. There is barely an ounce of plot in HSM3. This is a movie about kids singing their hearts out, with no room to build a believable storyline or provide characters with honest to goodness arcs. That might distract from soundtrack sales.

The fact is, the only reason we have HSM3 in theaters is because execs at Disney are still kicking themselves over giving away HSM2 on the Disney channel where 17 million tweens and teens tuned in to sing along. They weren't about to blow it this time and thus, with a little kick up the budget ladder, HSM3 arrives in all of its harmless, G-rated glory.

Here is my conundrum. On the one hand, it's nice that there is something so simple and sweet for kids to watch. Why there is nary even an advertisement in HSM3, kids actually use cellphones for their intended purpose, as phones. The movie exists in a wonderful tween/teen fantasyland where you wouldn't mind your kids residing for a little while.

On the other hand, as a movie, High School Musical 3 is supremely mediocre. The music has a higher sugar content than anything in the theater lobby while the non-musical scenes clunk about with lines like "My heart doesn't know it's in high school".

Look, I feel that any movie intended for my kids should aim a little higher. Aspire to be something more. Like Wall-E or The Incredibles or anything Pixar, aspire to more than just to stimulate the part of the brain that responds to cute people singing catchy tunes.

I don't want HSM3 to get all angst ridden and tortured over some major issue but how about at the very least jettisoning the disturbing stereotypes. The character of Chad played by Corbin Bleu is an african american who is never seen without a basketball under his arm.

Last summer's Hairspray broke barriers by being a bubbly musical and a lovely parable out race. The film had depth and still kept its high energy dance routines. At the very least, High School Musical could give us a storyline to invest in. But it doesn't. Instead, much like a puppy, it's all cuteness.

And who can really criticize a puppy. High School Musical is too harmless for me to trash it too much, or even not to recommend it. Parents are desperate for safe entertainment for their tween and teen kids and this is exactly what they are looking for. Why should I rain on the parade?

Take the kids and sing along to High School Musical 3.

Documentary Review Michael Jackson This is It

Michael Jackson's This is It (2009) 

Directed by Kenny Ortega 

Written by Michael Jackson 

Starring Michael Jackson 

Release Date October 26th, 2009 

Published October 25th, 2009 

The morbid truth of Michael Jackson's This is It is that many in the audience will spend much of the film's 2 hour run time searching for clues to how Michael Jackson died. Shot just weeks before his death on June 30th 2009, This Is It shockingly shows a Michael Jackson who is lithe, agile, adroit and in control. A musical auteur crafting his music like a pro and creating a whole new musical experience that could have changed his legacy.

The Michael Jackson of This Is It does not look like a drug addict or a man in desperate pain. Granted, these two hours were cut from likely hundreds of hours of footage where Jackson's troubles may have been readily apparent. Nevertheless, based on what we see, Jackson is healthy and mentally he's not merely aware he is adept and fully in control, in fact he is the vision of a visionary artist.

The footage compiled for This Is It was meant for Michael's private collection. After he died Michael's family and business partners convinced Jackson's friend and This Is It director Joe Ortega to cut the footage and give fans one last glimpse of The King Of Pop. Ortega has done that and more giving us the musical legacy of Michael as well as glimpses of a star who never whined or cried, never acted like a diva, but a perfectionist and a creator.

It is the vision of Michael Jackson that fans, I'm sure, wish were the dominant image of Jackson rather than the alien figure of tabloid headlines. It is a sad irony that Jackson's death would deliver this change in Jackson's fortune, warping his image back to icon from oddball.

It's sadder still that the potential of This Is It, the actual London performances, could have done what his death seems to have done, restored Michael's legend. From the footage in This Is It, you can see such a spectacle and so much raw, visionary talent, that you can't help but speculate that Michael, barring any more odd behavior, might have clawed his way back to icon status.

The mystery of Michael Jackson's death provides an eerie and morbid fascination but the lasting impact of This Is It may be as the final word on Michael Jackson's legacy, beyond the oddity, the talent wins out and Michael goes into history as a remarkable singer and visionary showman. Oh, what might have been,