High School Musical 3: Senior Year (2008)

User Rating:

3.7/10   

Director:

Kenny Ortega

Writers (WGA):

Peter Barsocchini (written by)
Peter Barsocchini (characters)

Release Date:

24 October 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Family | Musical | Romance

Tagline:

high school graduation

Plot:

As seniors in high school, Troy and Gabriella struggle with the idea of being separated from one another as college approaches. Along with the rest of the Wildcats, they stage a spring musical to address their experiences, hopes and fears about their future.

Plot Keywords:

High School | Basketball | Third Part | Family Relationships | Song And Dance

Awards:

3 wins & 8 nominations

Cast

Zac Efron	...	Troy Bolton
Vanessa Hudgens	...	Gabriella Montez
Ashley Tisdale	...	Sharpay Evans
Lucas Grabeel	...	Ryan Evans
Corbin Bleu	...	Chad Danforth
Monique Coleman	...	Taylor McKessie
Olesya Rulin	...	Kelsi Nielsen
Chris Warren Jr.	...	Zeke Baylor
Ryne Sanborn	...	Jason Cross
KayCee Stroh	...	Martha Cox
Bart Johnson	...	Coach Jack Bolton
Alyson Reed	...	Ms. Darbus
Matt Prokop	...	Jimmie Zara
Justin Martin	...	Donny Dion
Jemma McKenzie-Brown	...	Tiara Gold

Also Known As:

H.S.M. 3 (USA) (informal title)
Haunted High School Musical (USA) (working title)
High School Musical 3: Gradu-Dancin' (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

112 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

USA:G (certificate #44768) | Ireland:G | UK:U | Australia:G | Singapore:PG | Switzerland:7 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) | Sweden:Btl | Norway:A | Chile:TE | Portugal:M/6 | Canada:G | Hong Kong:I | South Korea:All | Argentina:Atp | Malaysia:U | Peru:PT | New Zealand:G | Brazil:Livre | South Africa:A | Mexico:A

Filming Locations:

East High School - 840 S 1300 E, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA

Company:

Borden and Rosenbush Entertainment

Trivia:

During the scene where Ms. Darbus asks the kids on stage what their future plans are, the kids line up in the same type of formation as the movie A Chorus Line (1985). This is a reference to Alyson Reed who starred as Cassie in the film.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: The trees have full summer leaves at the party after the basketball game. The weather would be much colder on a night after a basketball game in Albuqurque.

Quotes:

[from trailer]
Sharpay Evans: Hey, Troy, when's the big game?
Troy Bolton: Yesterday.
Sharpay Evans: Well, good luck. Toodles!

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in "Saturday Night Live: Ben Affleck/David Cook (#34.7)" (2008)

Soundtrack:

A Night to Remember

No--it's not great but it is full of energy and life

Sequel to the TV movies "High School Musical" and "High School Musical 2" (neither of which I saw). A bunch of friends are getting ready to graduate from high school. There's Troy Bolton (Zac Efron) the school basketball champ who secretly wants to sing and dance. There's his girlfriend--sweet, squeaky clean Gabriella (Vanessa Hudgens) who is going to a college that is far away from Troy. Then there's Troy's best bud Chad (Corbin Bleu) who doesn't want high school to end. Then there's the evil Sharpay (Ashley Tisdale) who wants Gabriella's part in the school play.

The script is horrendous. I laughed out loud at a few of the dumber lines and was constantly either rolling my eyes or smirking at the plot developments. However, I'm not the target audience for this--I'm a 46 year old guy. I saw it cause I love musicals and this has gotten raves from the critics. It's pretty obvious they're not cheering on the ridiculous plot but the musical numbers. They come out of nowhere but they're full of energy and life. They're also beautifully choreographed and some are really eye-popping. The whole cast can sing and dance and give their all to every single song. "The Boys Are Back" number between Chad and Troy is a true show-stopper. None of these songs will become classics but they're good enough. This is a musical aimed squarely at teenagers and pre-teens. The language is very clean (the G rating should tell you that), all the teens look clean and fresh, all the plots are predictable and family friendly and the whole cast goes at this full blast. This is truly a movie that the whole family can watch. A lot of people are jeering at this movie (notice the poor rating it has) but why? It's just an update of those stupid Beach Party movies of the 1960s. It's no masterpiece musical but it's fun, friendly and full of energy. I give it a 7.