The third movie in the High School Musical trilogy has finally arrived.  HSM 3: Senior Year continues the feel good movie effect the previous two gave to many young children; and older people as well.  With its bright sets and costumes, elaborate choreography, and animated cast, Senior Year should be on everyone’s “to see” movie list.  Even without seeing the first two, the movie has many great moments for everyone.  Although there are several corny moments, there are also many lessons to be learned about being true to yourself.  As a senior, I felt myself relating to many of the issues that the characters in the movie faced.

Senior Year was directed by Kenny Ortega (also directed Newsies and the previous High School Musicals) and written by Peter Barsocchini.  The movie was about the East High Wildcats experiences during their senior year.  With a basketball championship, the spring musical, finals, and Prom all around the group, the seniors including Troy (Zac Efron) and Gabriella (Vanessa Hudgens), had a lot on their minds.  Along with the rest of their friends, like Sharpay (Ashley Tisdale), Ryan (Lucas Grabeel), and Chad (Corbin Bleu), they face many tough decisions about their futures.

High School Musical 3 involves the characters preparing the musical at their school titled “Senior Year.” The show was all about them and the things they were going through during the year.  Many of the songs in the movie, such as “I Want It All”, “A Night to Remember”, and “I Just Wanna Be with You” were then mixed together at the end to create a montage of their play.  The plot was continuous and easy to follow. Even if someone hasn’t seen the previous High School Musicals, he or she could still see the third and understand what is going on almost right away.

Another strong quality of the musical was the choreography, by Kenny Ortega, Charles Klapow and Bonnie Story.  Incorporating a large number of people into a dance with limited space can be problematic, but they made the task look quite easy.  There were different styles of dance through the show, including waltzing and break dancing.  Many people think High School Musical dancing starts to look the same but the choreographers prove them wrong in this one.  Ortega made each dance unique and different from the others.

  A very memorable song with great choreography is “The Boys Are Back,” in which Troy and Chad reminisce about their childhood games in the local car lot.  They do many acrobatic stunts to “fight off the bad guys” they faced in the games.  The choreography also incorporates Troy and Chad as young children.  The choreography in the song is some of the best in the movie.  

In “Scream,” Troy dances around in the school in the middle of the night to relieve stress.  The walls of the school move and tilt so Efron walks, dances, and jumps from wall to wall.  In this scene you can obviously see the Ren McCormack in him.  For the unaware, Ren is the lead in the musical Footloose in which Efron will be performing in 2010.  

But the best choreography by far, is in the song “A Night to Remember.”  In the song the cast dances out the difference between girls and boys opinion of the prom.  This dance number involves a large cast in a small space but still looks neat and well thought out.  The choreography in the movie is nothing short of spectacular in all of the dance numbers.

The sets and costumes were also impressive during the whole show.  The cafeteria in East High, which I think is almost as big as all of Middletown High, is an intricate set.  It has different tables and levels in the room, which add to the detail of the set.  Another great set is the “set” of their school musical.  Many scenes in the movie are during a rehearsal for their show.  So in different scenes, you can watch them “build” the set for their show.  Another great set is in “A Night to Remember.”  It is a bright entertaining set that spins and changes to fit the music.  The sets throughout the movie are some of the greatest and most elaborate sets I’ve seen in a movie.

The costumes were equally remarkable.  The costume designer, Caroline Marx, is truly a talented person.  Many of the costumes, especially Sharpay’s, are so incredible and out there that it is apparent the person that made them is creative.  They are vivid and make the cast look like they popped off of the page of a story book, which is what HSM is all about.  

Another great factor to the movie is that there is a lesson to be learned from the characters.  Even though all three movies are about love and friendship, they are most evident in this third and final chapter in the Wildcat story.  Many high school students can relate to this movie, because the group of characters has to base life altering choices on their relationships with eachother.  Picking a college and future, as the HSM characters found out, shouldn’t be based on friendship because there will be friends everywhere you go.  If people are really close friends, they will always be there for each other and support the others’ decisions no mater what.  The group learns that friendship lasts forever even if high school does not.

High School Musical 3: Senior Year is a great movie for everyone.  Some may see it as a movie for “little girls in pink glittery shirts,” as it was said by the lady in front of me in line to get seats, and it is.  But it is also a fantastic movie for everyone else.  It may be a little corny (but what Disney movie isn’t?) and is probably geared to a younger audience, but there is also some appeal to an older crowd because it is such a feel good movie.  I give this movie my highest recommendation for its great sets and costumes, amazing choreography, and animated cast.