Campus Connection

Fame has gone completely “High School Musical.”  The producers of the recent remake wanted to make the new version a family friendly event and have succeeded admirably with the PG film.

The remake consists of an ensemble cast so large that each character has a miniscule amount of screen time.  To make keeping track of the dozen or so leads simpler for the audience, the writers have generously implemented the use of stereotypes.  The audience is forced to endure mediocre performances that are supposed to impress us with their “can-do” spirit, but fall flat in the face of critical (or not so critical, really) analysis.

But I digress.

The plot follows the same basic premise of the original film.  Students with high hopes in the performing arts field auditions and are accepted into a prestigious and highly competitive school.  Some students will succeed while others will fail, but what pulls them all together is a love of the same thing: performing.

The movie is peppered with both vocal and dance performances but few are above average.  The real highlight is dancer Alice, played by former “So You Think You Can Dance” contestant Kherington Payne.  Additionally, Denise (Naturi Naughton) shows some vocal promise and probably could have excelled with some better song selections.

Greats Bebe Neworth (“Cheers” and “Frazier”) and Megan Mullaly (“Will and Grace”) bring little if anything to this movie.  Instead, they both look very old and tired and not really that interested in what is going on in this movie.  The comedy for which these two are so renowned is completely absent from the film with nothing better to replace it.

This film fails as a drama as well, due to its inability to really address human longing or nature on any level deeper than a generic stereotype.  Avoid this film unless you have a tween-aged kid who needs something to fill the time until Disney makes another “High School Musical.”

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