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Movies / On DVD / High School Musical 3: Senior Year
High School Musical 3: Senior Year

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High School Musical 3: Senior Year (2008)

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Reviews Counted:123

Fresh:82

Rotten:41

Average Rating:6/10

Consensus: It won't win many converts, but High School Musical 3 is bright, energetic, and well-crafted.

Rated: U

Runtime: 1 hr 52 mins

Genre: Musical & Performing Arts

Theatrical Release:22-10-2008

Synopsis: The first HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL movie to be released straight to the silver screen, HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL 3 finds the cast of the beloved earlier installments, all students at East High, dealing with... The first HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL movie to be released straight to the silver screen, HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL 3 finds the cast of the beloved earlier installments, all students at East High, dealing with the ups and downs of senior year. While all the characters have their own dilemmas, the central issue, as in past films, is the relationship between sweethearts Troy (Zac Efron), the captain of East High's Wildcats basketball team, and the bookish Gabriella (Vanessa Hudgens), who face the possibility of imminent separation when Gabriella gets a chance to attend college early. With this third outing in the wildly popular Disney series, director Kenny Ortega takes full advantage of HSM3's big-screen leap, staging musical numbers that go far beyond the scope of the movie's predecessors (see the lavish "I Want It All" by resident East High diva Sharpay, played by Ashley Tisdale). While the series regulars are in fine form and a few new characters are introduced, the film really belongs to Efron, who gets the most screen time and is clearly on a trajectory for stardom beyond HSM. Rather than hold back their budding leading man, the creators and producers of HSM3 let Efron take the spotlight, much to the movie's advantage. Designed to welcome the few viewers who might be unfamiliar with HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL, SENIOR YEAR certainly offers plenty of valedictory excitement, and will leave fans giddy with delight. [More]

Starring: Zac Efron, Vanessa Anne Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale, Lucas Grabeel

Starring: Zac Efron, Vanessa Anne Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale, Lucas Grabeel, Corbin Bleu, Monique Coleman, Bart Johnson, Alyson Reed, Olesya Rulin, Chris Warren, Ryne Sanborn, Kaycee Stroh, Matt Prokop, Justin Martin, Jemma McKenzie-Brown

Director: Kenny Ortega

Director: Kenny Ortega
Screenwriter: Peter Barsocchini
Producer: William R. Borden, Barry Rosenbush
Composer: David Lawrence
Studio: Walt Disney Pictures

[See More Credits]

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    The High School Musical Phenomenon
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    "Now Or Never" Music Video
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    5 Faves with Zac and Corbin
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  • Invitation
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    I Want It All
    >
    Rocketman
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    Sharp Haaaay
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  • The Boys Are Back
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    The Night of Nights
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    Interview: Ashley Tisdale and Vanessa Hudgens
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    Interview: Monique Coleman and Olesya Rulin
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  • UK Video Interviews
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    Review Revue - 10/23/08
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    RT Review Revue - High School Musical 3, Pride and Glory, Saw V
    >
    Waltzing
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  • Zac Learns to Use the Camera
    >
1 - 4 of 17

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Reviews for High School Musical 3: Senior Year

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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At best, you’ll be disappointed; at worst, you’ll want to blow up a high school.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment 2 Comments
10/24/08
David Jenkins
David Jenkins
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

It has all the exquisite tension of dithering over whether to have the cake or the ice cream.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
10/24/08
Matthew De Abaitua
Matthew De Abaitua
Channel 4 Film
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

As far as slickly produced and joyfully energetic escapism goes, High School Musical 3 is top of the class.

Full Review Source: Times [UK] | comment Comment
10/24/08
Wendy Ide
Wendy Ide
Times [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

High School Musical 3: Senior Year makes cellophane taste like chicken jalfrezi.

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
10/24/08
Peter Bradshaw
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Refitted for the big screen, it becomes an eerily plastic business, like a blown-up doll's house.

Full Review Source: Daily Telegraph | comment Comment
10/24/08
Tim Robey
Tim Robey
Daily Telegraph
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Colourful, fizzy and destined to keep the karaoke busy for a few months, the ten musical e-numbers pop between the eyes like wads of overblown bubblegum. Would that they stick in the memory in the same way…

Full Review Source: Sky Movies | comment Comment
10/24/08
Elliott Noble
Elliott Noble
Sky Movies

Then there’s the sheer volume, colour and stage-brat exuberance that breezes the wispy plot (will the last spring musical come together?) from one forgettable hi-energy dance number to the next.

Full Review Source: Total Film | comment Comment
10/24/08
Total Film

Yes, it’s like being given a shot in the arm of pure Haribo, while downing Red Bull and being bombarded by images of kittens and rainbows but every once in while we need that.

Full Review Source: Heart 106.2 | comment Comment
10/24/08
Heart 106.2

If you have children, especially girls, they would have dragged you along to see this anyway. The good news is that it's entertaining whatever your age, and far from the commercialised mediocrity I had expected.

Full Review Source: Daily Mail [UK] | comment Comment
10/24/08
Christopher Tookey
Christopher Tookey
Daily Mail [UK]

If you’re under 12, you won’t be disappointed. If you’re over 12, the fact this is as funny and bright as it is insipid won’t stop you from avoiding it like the plague.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
10/24/08
Helen OHara
Helen OHara
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

In fact, whether you find it a piece of harmless, escapist fun with a gorgeous cast or two hours of cultural genocide filled with creepy robo-teens will depend on whether you’re under or over 14.

Full Review Source: Daily Mirror [UK] | comment 2 Comments
10/24/08
Daily Mirror [UK]

In an increasingly fragile world, High School Musical represents a constant slice of positive energy.

Full Review Source: Sun Online | comment Comment
10/24/08
Sun Online

A bit of bloodshed would have enlivened proceedings enormously in the anodyne High School Musical 3.

Full Review Source: Financial Times | comment Comment
10/24/08
Karl French
Karl French
Financial Times

Next to this, Dawson's Creek and Gossip Girl look like Ken Loach.

Full Review Source: Independent | comment Comment
10/24/08
Robert Hanks
Robert Hanks
Independent

I cringed for nearly two hours.

Full Review Source: This is London | comment Comment
10/24/08
Derek Malcolm
Derek Malcolm
This is London

Just smother yourself in an inch of sunscreen. Undead cynics will be bathed in such a UV dazzling positivity that they risk imploding in their seats.

Full Review Source: Teletext | comment Comment
10/23/08
Victor Olliver
Victor Olliver
Teletext

It's well made and entirely watchable, but it won't really appeal to anyone outside its target audience.

Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment Comment
10/23/08
Matthew Turner
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon

Completely lacking a plot or actual characters, this colourful film is more like a musical revue about a sanitised, fantasy version of high school. It's lively and watchable, but painfully vacuous.

Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment Comment
10/23/08
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
04/23/09
Carly Carioli
Carly Carioli
Boston Phoenix

...suffers from precisely the same sort of problems that plagued its two underwhelming predecessors...

Full Review Source: Reel Film Reviews | comment Comment
02/20/09
David Nusair
David Nusair
Reel Film Reviews
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 >> >|
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Latest News for High School Musical 3: Senior Year

March 04, 2009: Disney Sets Fourth High School Musical for 2010 Opens in new window
Disney's "High School Musical" will continue -- on television, and with "a new generation of East High School students," in 2010. More...

February 16, 2009: RT on DVD: High School Musical 3 or Midnight Meat Train?
It's a good week for mediocre films (Body of Lies, Changeling, Quarantine and Flash of Genius, which all walk a fine line between Fresh and Rotten) and an even better one if... More...

February 15, 2009: A review-proof, kiddie franchise certain to thrive regardless of what any snooty critics have to say about this installment which seizes on any excuse to have its ensemble break out into a song and dance ala a big Bollywood finale. Opens in new window
More...

December 17, 2008: Academy Names 49 Eligible Oscar Songs Opens in new window
The 49 songs in the running for Oscar nominations have been announced, including 11 tunes from the "High School Musical 3" soundtrack. More...

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