The songs aren't excruciatingly terrible when you think about who they're aimed at, i'm not even going to say that the dances are generic, because they suit the music and have people who are at least capable of doing them. Sure the moves are cheesy and seem only to be there in the hope that they would catch on at birthday parties, but they do suit the music so i guess choreographer/director Kenny Ortega did what he was supposed to do.
The acting. The actors aren't Oscar worthy, they don't deserve any prestigious award based on their performances in these movies, BUT the characters are over the top and contrived, the actors pretty much just go through the motions and it's pretty noticeable. I blame the script for the actors shortcomings.
The movie is a musical, as we all know the musical genre has been flailing in favor of dance movies like 'Step Up' and 'You got served' (did anybody actually see that? anybody?) musicals like 'Moulin Rouge' and 'Chicago' were aimed at adults and the kids really didn't have many movie musicals. Well except maybe 'The Cheetah girls' which i haven't seen but i think it's a musical. Then HSM came along, with its stereotypes, its cheese and 'lets sing about it' teeny bopper style. It exposed the younger generation(myself included) to musicals. HSM "heartthrob" Zac Efron also appeared in sixties musical 'Hairspray' (which by the way is better) and so the musical saw a resurgence in popularity, seeing 2 sequels made of HSM and the god awful 'Camp Rock' which was made as as a simple cash in on The Jonas Brothers and HSM. this isn't new of course, it's showbiz, it's been happening for years.Kids look up musicals, ask their parents about musicals and Google musicals. What comes up? 'West Side Story', 'Singin in the rain', 'funny Girl' etc. All these musical greats, the children watch some of these, they think: 'hey this is nothing like HSM!' then they watch a bit further:
'hey she sings better than Gabriella!'
'He's hotter than Zac Efron!' and... you got them. The little girls want a cute guy (regardless if he can sing, dance or even act) and they want a pretty and talented girl for them to aspire to be like. Soon they've discovered these movies, the original 'Hairspray and 'Grease'. I'm pretty sure that 'Grease' has been viewed by almost everyone with a TV since it came out but the kids may have never taken any notice because "its old". I'll also give an honorable mention to 'Glee' because that show is great and exposes the younger generation to the classics.
What i'm trying to say is HSM isn't good but its effects and intentions are.
You don't have to agree with me, what I've said may not even make sense, but i'm not a professional writer so what do you expect?
"I got thirty-six expressions, sweet as pie and tough as leather and thats six expressions more than all them Barrymores put together" Fanny Brice (Barbra Streisand), Funny Girl.
