-Gratuitous Zac Efron shirtless scenes. Night swimming? Yes please! Shirtless basketball in the middle of a hot New Mexico day? I'm not objecting! He kindof makes me think of a living Ken doll, though...like he wouldn't have any genitalia.
-Sharpay. I mean, in the first High School Musical she wore more sequins than I have ever seen outside my own closet, so I never thought they could top that. They did. Mini skirt with pink tulle train? Check. Gold skinny jeans? Check. Fireworks and fans during a musical number? Check. She is officially a cross between Cruella De Vil, Paris Hilton and my high school self...I love her.
-Ryan. Who are we really kidding? We knew he was gay the moment he came into frame in the first movie (it was the hats, wasn't it?). But HSM2 basically screams it without flat out coming out and saying it. Yes, he still wears the ugly hats, but now he does yoga and air-kisses his mom. He also has a dance/baseball fight with the "butch" athlete guy where he brings it through interpretive dance. He's basically saying, "Yes, I'm a big homo...but I can still kick your ass in baseball AND I can threaten your heterosexuality with my limber body and willingness to perform elaborate dance routines in front of large crowds." Eventually they all do a huge dance number a la West Side Story. Using baseball bats as props. Big phallic props. And, naturally, Ryan comes out on top even though he loses the game. I suppose the moral is that the gays will always win. Especially at the end, when he wins the talent show and his dad is really proud...but maybe now I'm just projecting.
-Really Catchy Songs. The songs from the first one were really catchy, yes. In fact, I can probably perform the entire movie in both English and Italian. However, most of the songs from HSM2, with the exception of a few of course, could stand alone as quality pop songs. I appreciate pop songs. They rule. I also cried at several...a sign that they are riveting and emotional, believe me. It's not like I cry at commercials or tv shows or pictures or anything...
-Throwbacks to classic musicals. Let's get serious..."Fabulous" is like a weird hybrid of "Rainbow Tour" from Evita and those bathing beauty musicals from the 1940s (such as Bathing Beauty starring Red Skeleton and Esther Williams). Also, who can ignore the obvious influences of West Side Story, Footloose and Grease (the original high school musical?).
-Zac Efron = a young, white (sane?) Michael Jackson (i.e. Justin Timberlake)? "Bet On It" is definitely dripping with Michael Jackson-ness. The dance is basically a compilation of the great MJ dances...Thriller's there, Beat It's there with a little Footloose and Rocky thrown in. And yes, I'm aware those aren't Michael Jackson movies, but they tragically left out The Wiz.
-Helicopter. On a golf course.
-Tiaras. A lot of them. And I am definitely including the dog tiaras. Probably before the human tiaras.
-Mrs. Hoffenfeffer and her sock puppet.
-Is Sharpay wearing Zac Posen in the talent show? God, I hope so.
-Troy and Gabriella are totally in love. If they weren't, they wouldn' have broken up and then gotten back together by singing a bangin duet with a 1990s Mariah Carey cloud background. That's gotta be love. And it is definitely my dream.
-More really Really REALLY gay dancers.
-Troy and Gabriella FINALLY kiss...and there are fireworks...and wetness.
-I just really love Sharpay.
Just one question: why is Sharpay always paired with Ryan in the dance numbers? Why can't she dance with the black guy who bakes? She obviously likes him or else there would've been no "These are the BEST. COOKIES. I. HAVE. EVER. TASTED!" Don't pretend you don't know what I'm referring to.
All in all, I think High School Musical 2 is a much more sophisticated production than the first one. Yes, I am aware that I just said that about a DCOM (and yes, I use the official abbreviation because I am a huge nerd).
