High School Musical 3: Senior Year

Even often cold-hearted film critics appear taken with Disney's theatrical edition of High School Musical. "The third chapter of the phenomenally popular franchise crystallizes a moment in movie-musical history that is probably as evanescent as it is triumphant," writes Stephen Holden. He credits the film's success not only to "the shrewd mixing and matching of proven formulas," but also to the performances of the two stars, Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens. "Mr. Efron's athletic grace is Astaire-like in its casual authority. Ms. Hudgens's blissful smiles melt the screen," he remarks. John Anderson in his review for Newsday offers almost grudging admiration. The movie, he says, "is eminently watchable, occasionally very funny, and sweet enough to give you diabetes." Forget the plot, advises Cllaudia Puig in USA Today. "What grabs and keeps our attention are the pretty faces, infectious songs and eye-popping dance moves." Likewise, Tasha Robinson comments in the Chicago Tribune that the movie "is frustratingly shallow, but what it lacks in narrative ambition, it makes up for in dazzling choreography." Bottom line, according to Catherine Dawson March in the Toronto Globe & Mail: "Disney raised the stakes by turning its hit TV-movie franchise into a feature film - and the bet has paid off." On the other hand, Kyle Smith in the New York Post makes no attempt to hide his scorn for the movie, writing that "the jokes are awful, the intrigue minimal ... [and] the musical numbers ... are at the level of a Mentos commercial."