Good clean Disney-made fun!

Director and Choreographer: Kenny Ortega
Writer: Peter Barsocchini

Troy Bolton (Zac Efron) and Gabriella Montez (Vanessa Hudgens) first meet when they are both pushed on a karaoke stage at a New Year’s Eve party at a ski resort. They are both very uncomfortable with this turn of events. Immediately when they begin to sing we hear the talent in their voices. Troy sounds to me like he could step right into N’Sync and blend perfectly. Gabriella’s voice has its own unique angelic quality. Right away you get a feel for this movie. Cute, talented, young actors in a feel-good movie. No need to let that scare you away, you liked the movie "Grease" didn't you?

Moving on, the Christmas vacation is over. We discover that Gabriella has moved into Troy's high school in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Troy's persona there is made up completely of basketball and basketball only. No one knows that he has any inkling whatsoever towards singing. Gabriella, on the other hand, has come to a new school hoping to leave her own persona behind for a little while. She does not want to be labeled as the little "Einstein-ess" of this school too.

Cut to homeroom. The loopy, loud and colorful drama teacher is in full voice reigning over the class while giving a tirade on cell phones. Here, Gabriella and Bolton are delighted to discover they are in the same school. Also, they have just heard the drama teacher announce the school musical tryouts. They are both secretly interested, but Troy definitely does not think his fellow basketball teammates would find it cool at all. As for Gabriella, her plan is to not get involved in any extra curricular activities for awhile.

Our two lead characters find themselves in a tug-o-war over who they are "supposed" to be according to the accepted cliques, and the musical sides of themselves that they are hoping to explore. Their friends want and expect them to stick to the norm.

The various school cliques… jocks, brainiacs, skaters, cheerleaders and the like, cling tightly to the idea of “sticking to the status quo”. They do not like the thought of one of their own dipping a toe into another clique’s pond.

Some zesty fun infiltrates the story with a dynamic brother and sister singing-acting-dancing-drama duo, Ryan (Lucas Grabeel) and Sharpay (Ashley Tisdale) Evans. They are rather good at what they do, just ask them, they will be happy to tell you. Ryan and Sharpay are totally and completely undone by the thoughts of Gabriella and Troy having the gall to come up against them in tryouts for the school musical. They have dominated the lead roles since kindergarten and are not about to play second fiddle now!

The sound track for this film has gone triple platinum, so you may already be familiar with some of the songs. Now it is time to watch the movie and see where the songs fit into the story line. The production number featuring the song “Get Your Head in the Game” is particularly creative. Singing, hip-hop moves and basketball drills are all intermixed for this scene. They even got an NBA coach to teach specific basketball drills in order to incorporate them into the choreography so the number would have a legitimate look. The result is a very fun visual piece. The song gets stuck in your head and the overall effect gives you the urge to get up off the couch and bust out a few hip-hop moves. Go ahead, I won’t tell.

Okay, I am not giving anymore away. The movie is played over-the-top purposely, well...like a high school musical. Anyone who enjoys singing and dancing will find fun in the movie and not mind that it is corny-cute.

My daughter loves singing and dancing and is thrilled with the “High School Musical Remix”. She is busy taking advantage of the option to have the words on the screen when the songs are being performed so she can sing along and learn the lyrics. She also loves the option that allows you to learn some of the choreography from the actors themselves. If singing and dancing along sounds like fun to you or your kids, then this is a movie you will love to own.