The movie begins in their last class of the school year. Appropriately, High School Musical 2 opens with a song and dance number featuring your favorite cast members, including Troy (Zac Efron), Gabriella (Vanessa Hudgens), Chad (Corbin Bleu), Taylor (Monique Coleman), Sharpay (Ashley Tisdale), and Ryan (Lucas Grabeel), plus the rest of the school. At the end of the number, we hear all of the teens discussing what they are going to do for the summer, and the lack of jobs available to them. Also, Sharpay tells Ryan that her summer plans include taking Troy away from Gabriella for herself.
To first separate Gabriella and Troy, Sharpay arranges for Troy to have a summer job at the country club that her parents essentially "own." What she doesn't know until she gets there is that Troy only agreed to work there if they would hire all of his friends too, including Gabriella. Obviously this does not make Sharpay happy, so she has to devise other ways to get rid of Gabriella and convince Troy that life with her would be so much better and easier on him. The real question is, will he fall for it?
Even if you've already seen the movie when it premiered on the Disney Channel, the Extended Edition DVD provides a few extra features for you. There's one additional musical scene, a very amusing one! The number is called Humuhumunukunukuapua'a. Try saying that 10 times fast. Actually, try saying it at all, much less singing it. Needless to say, it's wonderful entertainment to watch Sharpay and Ryan perform the number.
Other features on the DVD include a Sing A Long, Music Videos, Bloopers, and a Rehearsal Cam. The bloopers are amusing, but a lot of times it shows them laughing at something. Unfortunately they don't show us what they're laughing at, and we really wanted to know! The Rehearsal Cam lets you watch the footage of the dance rehearsals.
High School Musical 2 is a much welcomed change from the America Pie type movies where all the teens' lives revolve around drinking and sex. I would liked to have seen more of the secondary characters that we came to love from High School Musical, especially Chad, Taylor, and Kelsi (Olesya Rulin). It just didn't seem like they were in the sequel as much as the original, and they definitely weren't as integral to the story. But overall, we enjoyed High School Musical 2. I would recommend it, even if you've already seen it. It's a movie that you will watch several times. Fair warning though, the Humuhumunukunukuapua'a song will get stuck in your head no matter how much you want it out!
