The defence The Popcorn Loyalist
“Sincerity is not manipulation.”
The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.
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High School Musical 2
Comedy · Family · TV Movie · 2007
The East High Wildcats are gearing up for big fun as they land the coolest summer jobs imaginable. Troy, Gabriella, Chad, and Taylor have scored sweet gigs at the Lava Springs Country Club owned by Sharpay and Ryan's family. Sharpay's first rule of business: Get Troy. As Troy experiences a life of privilege he's never known, will he give up the Wildcats and Gabriella to rise to the top?
Movie details
High School Musical 2
“Are you ready for the start of something new?”
2007 Comedy · Family · TV Movie 1h 51m
Critical arithmetic
The consensus, allegedly.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
IMDb
5.3 / 10
71.4K votes
Rotten Tomatoes
83 %
Tomatometer
TMDB
6.5 / 10
Community rating
External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.
The East High Wildcats are gearing up for big fun as they land the coolest summer jobs imaginable. Troy, Gabriella, Chad, and Taylor have scored sweet gigs at the Lava Springs Country Club owned by Sharpay and Ryan's family. Sharpay's first rule of business: Get Troy. As Troy experiences a life of privilege he's never known, will he give up the Wildcats and Gabriella to rise to the top?
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over High School Musical 2?
For the defence
The Popcorn Loyalist
“Big screen, big feelings, no apologies.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Big-Idea Head
“You watch with your brain, not your gut.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days
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Thunderstruck
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Cadet Kelly
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Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer
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Camp Nowhere
Comedy · 1994
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Stuck in the Suburbs
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Brittany Aarons is one of the many girls who has a crush on popular singer and boy-toy Jordan Cahill. However, she is bored of living a suburban existence and seeks a little something more.
Sneakerella
Music · 2022
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Tom & Jerry
Comedy · 2021
Tom the cat and Jerry the mouse get kicked out of their home and relocate to a fancy New York hotel, where a scrappy employee named Kayla will lose her job if she can’t evict Jerry before a high-class wedding at the hotel. Her solution? Hiring Tom to get rid of the pesky mouse.
Camp Rock
Music · 2008
When Mitchie gets a chance to attend Camp Rock, her life takes an unpredictable twist, and she learns just how important it is to be true to yourself.
Mulan II
Animation · 2004
Fa Mulan gets the surprise of her young life when her love, Captain Li Shang asks for her hand in marriage. Before the two can have their happily ever after, the Emperor assigns them a secret mission, to escort three princesses to Chang'an, China. Mushu is determined to drive a wedge between the couple after he learns that he will lose his guardian job if Mulan marries into the Li family.
Where it lives
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Streaming availability data supplied by JustWatch.
Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Kenny Ortega
Written by
Peter Barsocchini
Zac Efron
Troy Bolton
Vanessa Hudgens
Gabriella Montez
Ashley French
Sharpay Evans
Lucas Grabeel
Ryan Evans
Corbin Bleu
Chad Danforth
Olesya Rulin
Kelsi Nielsen
Chris Warren
Zeke Baylor
Court is in session
Put High School Musical 2 on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Big-Idea Head
“The strings are showing.”
Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.