A Look Back: High School Musical 2
High School Musical 2 is my Problem Movie of the trilogy. I’m not even sure that it’s the weakest installment - it’s either this or the third one - but it’s definitely the entry that annoys me the most, especially because no one else seems to be as bothered by it. I don’t like how…
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Of Fact and Fantasy
High School Musical 2 is my Problem Movie of the trilogy. I’m not even sure that it’s the weakest installment – it’s either this or the third one – but it’s definitely the entry that annoys me the most, especially because no one else seems to be as bothered by it. I don’t like how it handles the main Troy plot, I don’t like the romance, I don’t like the philosophy behind summer jobs… The list goes on and on. So, you have been warned: there will be a fair amount of ranting ahead.

This film is assuredly, however, the most visually striking of the trilogy. The filmmakers had a bigger budget for the sequel and they used it – there’s a whole lot of eye candy with the film’s country club set, and you can tell that they were practically salivating at the idea of working with a giant, luxurious swimming pool. This is a really pretty film, there’s no doubt about it – but what’s not so pretty are the messages it contains.

“Yeah, look at our pretty locations…”

The thing that really bugs me about this movie, after experiencing high school myself, is that the “summer vacation” mentality that accompanies this film is the same one that a fourth grader would have. These kids are so dense that they don’t secure jobs before summer begins (although Gabriella and Taylor had interviews, so at least those two tried) and that right there shows you the boneheaded “everything will come to me because I deserve it” philosophy that most of these characters hold. But more on that later.

Even as a kid, I hated that “T” necklace that Troy gives Gabriella. I know Troy’s a bit of a dude-bro, but how much of a narcissistic caveman can you be? He’s BRANDING her. This is the first proper scene these two share in the movie, and I think it’s rather indicative of how their relationship devolves from something sweet and innocent into Dysfunction Junction.

The songs in this movie are good – going over the soundtrack in my head, I can’t think of a bad one in the bunch – but they’re not quite as iconic as the ones in the first film, with the possible exceptions of “What Time Is It,” “Bet On It,” and “All For One.” “What Time Is It” was definitely an anthem for anyone between eight and eighteen in the years between 2007 and 2014.

There’s a line in “Fabulous” about how Sharpay even needs “fabulous trash” – I think the phrase “fabulous trash” perfectly describes this movie.

So Fulton comes in and announces that Chad and Troy are going to be waiters/caddies, and they seem horrified by this. Other jobs listed for the Wildcats include “handling [club] member activities, playing [piano] at cocktail hour, and helping the master chef.” And these kids have the gall to act surprised and disgusted by their assignments. WHAT IS WRONG WITH THEM? Those are GREAT jobs for high schoolers! Only Zeke (who is excited about helping the chef) seems to understand that this is a cool gig. Stupid Chad whines that they’re “at the bottom of the heap” and everyone else groans, too – but they’re teenagers working at a country club. What did they expect? To just hang out at the country club? These are quality jobs, you privileged East High brats.

Fulton criticizes Gabriella for leaving for lunch 3 minutes before the end of her shift and he’s treated as the bad guy. Gabriella is a freaking lifeguard, which might be the worst shift to possibly clock out of a few minutes early. What if some kid drowned on her watch (or lack of watch)?

Oh, and Troy and Gabriella also have the nerve to picnic on the golf course during lunch hour when they’re not club members and that territory is probably pretty explicitly off-limits. Again, Fulton is treated as killjoy for calling them on this. I know, I know that Sharpay is making him harass them to the point where they’ll want to quit their jobs, but these are justified complaints against your staff, especially at an esteemed country club.

Troy and Gabriella’s chemistry doesn’t work for me in this movie. Rather than two awkward, shy kids connecting, they’re now sickeningly cute and I can’t stand it. The filmmakers lay it on too thick and, sure, maybe I’m a bit of a crabby killjoy, but they’ve just become too in love all of a sudden.

Troy’s random scream in the deserted kitchen is hilarious. I always forget that it’s in this movie, and every time I laugh my head off. These three films are just this guy being tortured by teenage existence.

The film acts like Troy forgot about his pool date with Gabriella, but he didn’t – he was pulled away by his boss to do something and he couldn’t very well say no. Plus, he spent the entire time trying to break away so he could make his date. Does the film acknowledge Troy’s side of the story? Noooo. He’s just a bad, neglectful boyfriend because he’s actually trying to obey his workplace superiors.

The bonus “Humuhumunukunukuāpuaʻa” scene is brilliant. It’s so horrible, tacky, and downright outrageous – for five minutes the film had a psychic break and stopped having any cares whatsoever because it knew, deep down, that this scene wouldn’t make it to the TV airing. It’s like someone took acid at the Disney Aulani resort. It’s so bright and shiny and demented, from the terrible rap to the trippy fish-face/fish-noise parts to Troy basically being trapped in the dark and having to experience it – it’s never not funny.

The filmmakers are clearly scenery eye candying out with this pool date sequence, but I can’t deny that it’s gorgeous. Swimming pool scenes are pretty much always gorgeous. Plus, it reminds me of Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet, and a movie that reminds me of Romeo + Juliet is always a good thing.

Do pools at night increase a scene’s romance factor by 100%? I think so.

Troy’s dad is often presented as pushing Troy too far in the direction of his future rather than his friends, but he’s completely right here. Troy worries about how his friends perceived him because he was invited to dinner with the rich schmoozers while his friends still worked in the kitchen and Mr. Bolton says, “There’s nothing wrong with attention if you earned it. They’re doing their jobs. You were invited to dinner.” If only the whole movie had Mr. Bolton’s perspective.

Troy gets so much criticism in this movie, but we need to acknowledge how classy he is. He clearly finds Sharpay annoying but, even throughout her relentless harassment of him, he remains polite as can be.

Troy’s teammates get mad because they can’t play at an event that they weren’t invited to. It’s a closed practice, and Troy was invited and they weren’t, and they get pissed off that they can’t come along. God, Chad, stop whining that you don’t get to go everywhere you want.

Why would Gabriella and Taylor invite Ryan to the staff baseball game? They’re not exactly the most open-minded people and, even though the movies try to hardcore sell Gabriella as a little ray of positivity, you can’t deny that Taylor has been insinuating all kinds of stuff about Troy and Sharpay and that judgmental attitude would totally bleed over to Sharpay’s brother.

Ryan’s arc might be the best part of this movie, but it still comes off as a little weird to me because the films portray him as such an idiot beforehand. Is this guy still supposed to be the Ryan who can’t read and is really slow at processing information?

The songs might be slightly weaker, but the choreography is pretty awesome across the board. I think it might be even better than it was in the first High School Musical.

Troy being tortured by Sharpay is too funny. Zac Efron just has the best miserable, dead-eyed, slightly bewildered face and it cracks me up.

If this is what breaks Troy and Gabriella up, I don’t have much faith in the relationship. Maybe it’s because I’m an adult, but Troy missing a couple of outings because of his job or future opportunities just seems so minimal. And if Gabriella’s ticked about Sharpay (which I get), then she can just leave her job and still hang out with her friends during their time off. It doesn’t have to mean that she leaves her job and Troy. The bottom line is that I really hate how nothing with Troy is ever treated as a two-way street. Troy has to do all of the lifting, all of the apologies, all of the relinquishing of his job and future; Gabriella never apologizes or works for their relationship, nor does Chad. Neither of them try to meet Troy at his level or see things from his point of view; it’s just “I’m going to be mad at you and break up with you (either platonically or romantically) and when you go back to your old self I’ll come back with a smile.”

Troy’s breakdown song gives me glee. “Bet On It” is both deeply cathartic and gut-bustingly hilarious with its melodramatic choreography and full-on “I am being tortured” performance from Troy. In all seriousness, I really do like this song – even if it basically means that Troy’s doing everything I don’t want him to do to please his petty friends – and I think it’s visually stunning, and somehow the childish dancing and silly jumping just add to it being an explosion of angst and insanity. Troy’s under a lot of pressure and, boy, do you feel it.

One of the most effective moments in the movie is when Troy agrees to help Sharpay, in exchange for her giving his friends a chance to perform. It’s a wonderful scene where Sharpay is vulnerable and feeling the repercussions of her actions, and Troy acts as the higher man and forgives her while also helping those that he cares about. THIS should have been the ending of the movie, because what a wholesome lesson that is. Redemption for the villain, compromise on all the characters’ parts, and everyone gets to perform and be happy.

BUT NO, THE MOVIE THEN GOES AND RUINS IT ALL. Instead of actually singing with Sharpay, it’s a trick set up by Ryan, Gabriella, and who knows how many others – Troy is given a new song that Sharpay doesn’t know the words to, so she can’t perform with him, meaning that Troy’s onstage by himself and who shows up to sing the other part but dear Gabriella. I guess because Sharpay’s the bad guy we’re not supposed to care that she lost her opportunity to perform, but it completely undermines the significance of Troy’s behavior. With this stunt, the Wildcats are no better than Sharpay, whose actions they (and the film) have condemned for the last 90 minutes.

And shame on Gabriella for making a dramatic re-entrance and stealing the spotlight like that. If Gabriella’s primary motivation was to talk things out with Troy and give their relationship another try, she should have done that in private. No, I think Gabriella was in this for the drama and adoration as much as Sharpay was: she emerges from the crowd with an angelic glow and no concern that Troy won’t take her back or that maybe she was too harsh on him or any allusion to their last tearful encounter at all. I guess everything is forgiven because Troy gave up his promotion and privileges and there’s nothing further to discuss. It’s supposed to be cute, but it comes off as really sour to me.

Gah. I get what philosophy the movie is going for – that life moves too fast, you can’t focus exclusively on the future, you have to enjoy your time and not let it pass you by, especially during your last few years of childhood – but…it’s too black and white. And it just makes me angry. It tells you that you shouldn’t think about the future if that means not getting to spend all of your spare time with your friends; it tells you that you shouldn’t accept opportunities if your friends also weren’t offered the same opportunities, and that you’ll clearly mutate into a power-hungry, soulless individual if you do. That’s not how the world works. Maybe there’s a reason why the emotionally immature Chad – who whines about having to work as a waiter while Troy gives him a pep talk that they’ll still have fun and get a bunch of money and experience – wasn’t offered a promotion while Troy was (outside of the “Sharpay manipulating everyone” subplot, obviously). Maybe there should be some compromise in relationships and not just one person dramatically running off into the night until the other person fixes everything to their significant other’s liking. Maybe you can still accept opportunities and have a good summer with your friends.

And maybe all of that is too much to ask from a Disney Channel movie aimed at tweens. But the message it sends instead feels borderline toxic and, for all of the movie’s strengths (and there are many), it always leaves me frustrated rather than joyful by the time that the end credits start to roll.