High School Musical 2

CinemaSerf 12/8/2023 7:52:53PM 8.4

Flush with the success of winning their high school basketball tournament and now suitably loved up, "Troy" (Zac Efron) is offered a summer job at an exclusive country club. He's keen but wants "Gabriella" (Vanessa Hudgens) to join him. A quick chat with the manager and it seems the entire class now have jobs there... Except, of course, "Sharpay" (Ashley Tisdale) and brother 'Ryan" (Lucas Grabeel) whose folks just happen to own the place. Smell a rat, yet? Well it seems that the spoiled "Sharpay" has designs on "Troy" - well on his voice, anyway - and so she uses her wiles, her money and her parents to promise him a lucrative scholarship, some nice Italian golf shoes and a great deal of effective flattery. His gal and his friends start not to recognise him and it looks like she has him on a plate... Can he come to his senses before he is subsumed into a life of pink poodles? What this really misses is Alyson Reed's over-the-top teacher "Ms. Darbus" who hardly features, and also a killer song. There's still plenty of ensemble choreography numbers and more cheese than you can ever fondue, before a denouement that is really rather predictably flat. Again, I think Grabeel is the man with the talent here - he can dance and hold a note way better than the star of the show, and by the time it ended I did wonder if this already weary franchise had any more legs. Not very good, sorry.