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Friday, September 21, 2007

What time is it? Summertime! (Sort of.)

JAZZ HANDS! High School Musical 2, Disney Channel, 6.00pm/9.00pm

This may well be establishing unplumbed depths of gay even for us, but we couldn't let this one pass without a mini-fanfare of some sort. It feels like we've been waiting ages for this, since it aired in America over a month ago, and frankly most of us have already seen all the good/important bits on YouTube, but still: here in all its spangly glory is High School Musical 2, which kicks off, somewhat ironically, with a song celebrating the beginning of summer vacation. Probably not to cheering for the kids in mid-September, we'll wager.

Anyway, in that way that is all too common in Disney movies, in order for the sequel to happen, there needs to be a partial reset and any lessons that the antagonists may have learned at the end of the first movie have to be conveniently forgotten so they can essentially play the same role again. Hence the glorious Sharpay Evans doesn't seem to remember that she realised at the end of the first film that it's okay not to win all of the time, and has instead decided to dedicate her time to stealing studly Troy Bolton away from nice-but-dull Gabriella Montez's clutches, by getting him a summer job at her luxurious country club. Of course, things are rarely that simple and the entire gang manage to get summer jobs in the same place, Saved by the Bell style, and lolarity ensures, obviously.

The biggest difference from the first movie is that Zac Efron actually gets to use his own voice in this one, even if the difference isn't massively noticeable. Otherwise, it's business as usual: Ashley Tisdale and Lucas Grabeel steal every scene they're in, and even some that they're not, and the songs are campy and disposable but strangely catchy. Sharpay's big number 'Fabulous' is sure to be a future mainstay of any self-respecting drag queen's set, while 'I Don't Dance' appears to be the soundtrack to Chad and Ryan's tentative first steps towards hot gay lovin' (sample lyrics: "I'll show you how I swing...you'll never know if you never try"). Troy's solo 'Bet On It' is somewhat ruined by unintentionally hilarious direction/choreography/acting (we're not really sure who to blame), but if you close your eyes it's quite a passable Timberlake tribute. Sadly the best song in the entire film, 'Humuhumunukunukuapua'a' didn't make the final cut and we'll have to wait for the DVD to see that properly. Er, not that we're planning to buy the DVD or anything. Honest.