HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL 2: EXTENDED EDITION
(TV-G)
MOVIE: *** (out of 5)
DVD EXPERIENCE: ** (out of 5)
STARRING
Zac Efron as TROY BOLTON
Vanessa Hudgens as GABRIELLA MONTEZ
Ashley Tisdale as SHARPAY EVANS
Lucas Grabeel as RYAN EVANS
Corbin Bleu as CHAD DANFORTH
Monique Coleman as TAYLOR MCKESSIE
Directed by: Kenny Ortega
Studio: Disney
BY KEVIN CARR
My wife is a grade school teacher, and one day I was visiting her for lunch. While she was pulling hall duty, she was chatting with one of her students, who was wearing a “High School Musical” tee-shirt. I pointed to the shirt and said, “Hey, I met those kids.”
It was like I told her I met Jesus. The girls freaked and wanted to know everything I could tell them about Zac Efron (which was admittedly very little considering I just sat in on a roundtable interview). This shows the power of “High School Musical.” So I can say anything I want to about this film, and the teenybopper girls aren’t going to stop themselves from buying and watching this DVD.
That said, I still will be honest. I felt “High School Musical 2” was a step down from the original “High School Musical” that took cable television by storm last year. Still, I respect it for the fact that it brought the cast back in total and actually put together a coherent story, and this is quite a feat for a movie that was clearly meant to be a one-shot run on the boob tube.
The new movie follows the kids as summer hits. The cliques start again as everyone gets summer jobs at a local resort. Rich kids Sharpay (Ashley Tisdale) and Ryan Evans (Lucas Grabeel) are also at the resort on vacation. However, Sharpay has eye for Troy Bolton (Zac Efron) and wants to woo him from Gabriella. Of course, there’s also a resort talent show for everyone to do battle on the stage rather than rumble in the streets.
The DVD comes with a few special features, and the “Extended Edition” subtitle is really only applicable to an additional song-and-dance number dropped into the video release. After watching it, I can see why it, like many deleted scenes, was left on the cutting room floor. And considering how the flaming nature of Ryan’s character in the scene, I wouldn’t be surprised if it were his agent that called for the scene’s deletion.
Other features include rehearsal footage of the dance number as well as karaoke versions of the songs so you can sing along at home.
If you’re bummed there’s not enough bonus material, take heart. Once the Christmas sales for “High School Musical 2” wane, there’s surely be a super-extended edition coming out this summer.