High School Musical 3: Senior Year
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures | Release Date: October 24, 2008 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
57
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 26 Critic Reviews
Positive:
12
Mixed:
12
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
These are standard youth-movie dilemmas, but they're brought to life by the high-energy cast and the musical numbers, which Ortega shoots with electrifying pizzazz. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneTasha Robinson
What it lacks in narrative ambition, it makes up for in dazzling choreography. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
For the most part, the film's musical numbers are dynamic, propelling the story forward. The same cannot be said about Peter Barsocchini's colorless screenplay. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Catherine Dawson March
Disney raised the stakes by turning its hit TV-movie franchise into a feature film – and the bet has paid off. Read full review
75
TV Guide MagazinePerry Seibert
It's a well-produced yearbook that will one day bring back sweet memories for the cast and fans, but probably won't be of interest to anyone who wasn't part of the scene. Read full review
75
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
A sweet, innocent look at an impossibly idealized high school world. Read full review
70
Washington PostAnn Hornaday
Exudes genuine appeal, thanks to director Kenny Ortega's brilliant choreography and a gifted cast. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesMark Olsen
For those scoring at home, the third entry in the "High School Musical" series is better than the second but doesn't quite sustain the unvarnished, giddy highs of the first. Read full review
70
SalonStephanie Zacharek
This is a movie that offers simple, buouyant pleasures. Read full review
70
The New YorkerAnthony Lane
They give excellent value for money, launching into song the way that normal folk go to the bathroom--regularly, politely, and because, if they didn't, well, darn it, they might just burst. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
Teenthrob Efron will be missed in future episodes by both adolescent girls and their moms who are only too happy to accompany their daughters to the theatre, but he's a handsome talent who's graduated to bigger projects. Read full review
63
USA TodayClaudia Puig
Even if the refreshing gust doesn't stay with you long, it's fun while it lasts. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsElizabeth Weitzman
It's hard to complain about a pop culture phenomenon built on unabashed innocence. And anyway, we might as well get used to it: Neither the movie nor the passionate tween squeals at a recent preview leave any doubt that "HSM 4" is on its way - or that the inevitable "College Musical" will be far behind. Read full review
60
The New York TimesStephen Holden
A candy-colored never-never land that Peter Pan might envy. Read full review
60
EmpireHelen O'Hara
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. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
Efron is the epitome of sexless Disney heartthrobs, but he's an electrifying song-and-dance man, so much so that his castmates (Bleu excepted) look like they have concrete shoes by comparison. Read full review
58
Seattle Post-IntelligencerTravis Nichols
No spoilers here, but there are enough hints that the incoming class of happy-go-lucky theater folk will have plenty to do in the already-in-the-works fourth installment. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterStephen Farber
The result unfortunately has the blandness of a mediocre TV sitcom. Read full review
50
VarietyPeter Debruge
While Ortega and fellow choreographers Charles Klapow and Bonnie Story stretch their imaginations, there's something almost lazy about the picture's underachiever script. Read full review
50
L.A. WeeklyElla Taylor
Set against a production design seemingly inspired by the American flag, director Kenny Ortega's choreography is industrial and efficient, if haplessly stranded somewhere between Michael Jackson and the Village People. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChroniclePeter Hartlaub
Unfortunately, the writing has become so bad that it becomes impossible to keep your head in the game - even as your toes continue to tap to the beat. Read full review
50
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
High School Musical 3 wore me out, but I'm not the target audience. My favorite high school musical was "Hamlet 2." Read full review
50
Boston GlobeTy Burr
For all its unforgivable blandness, "High School Musical" opens young audiences to the charms of this most transporting of movie genres. Read full review
50
Film ThreatPete Vonder Haar
Right out of the gate, we realize that bringing the series to the big screen makes the flaws that much more obvious. The voices are too thin, the music and lyrics too simplistic, and the production values are – frankly – too "televisual." Read full review
38
New York PostKyle Smith
There is also something surgically sterile. The movie sounds as though it was recorded in a padded chamber instead of a bustling school, and it looks like it came from some alternate world, one that basks in the eternal sunshine of the spotless skin. Read full review
25
Rolling StonePeter Travers
If you're gay and/or eight years old, HSM3 is the movie event of the year. Read full review
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