Why So Blu?

Sharpay’s Fabulous Adventure (Blu-ray Review)

I admit to being a little too old to be a fan of the High School Musical (HSM) movies, yet I enjoyed them all.  If their target audience is 16 years old (and I may be guessing high), I am 17 years beyond that demographic.  None the less, I did enjoy those movies and I think Zac Ephron is cute.  For those of you who may not know, Ashley Tisdale played a character named Sharpay.  Don’t let the name fool you, she is not a dog or a cartoon character she is the arch nemesis to HSM’s Vanessa Hudgens.  Fans of the HSM movies will be disappointed that none of the original film’s main characters have even cameos in this one.  This is all about Sharpay, and her fabulous adventure.

Film  

Sharpay’s Fabulous Adventure is brought to you by the producers of High School Musical and the Director of The Tooth Fairy, The Santa Clause 2 & 3, and TV’s Friends.  Ashley Tisdale reprises her role as Sharpay, the occasionally lovable but always stylish star of the Albuquerque country club scene.  It has been a year since high school and Sharpay has put on another glitzy show.  Much to her excitement, her charity gala has caught the attention of a talent scout.  He suggests she look him up if she makes it to New York City, an idea that makes Sharpay immediately want to pack her pink bags to go, but her daddy is not sure it’s a good idea.  After a quick planning session with her gal pals, she lays out the plans on a couple of poster boards and convinces her parents to let her spend a month in New York to become famous.

Daddy agrees to pay for her penthouse and give her a month to become a star.  Sharpay and her dog Boi are eager to move into their luxury digs, but the building does not take pets and not even Sharpay can “pretty-please” her way out of this one.  She sits on the streets of NYC,  on her mountain of luggage when a young film student takes interest.  In an unbelievable lucky coincidence, he isn’t there to rob or murder her, but instead he actually wants to help.  They soon learn he is the boy that her parents have asked to keep an eye on her and there happens to be a vacant apartment in his building.  Of course the studio apartment with the Murphy bed is nowhere near Sharpay’s usual standards but the pair soon remedy the situation with some pink paint and feather boas.

Now that Sharpay has a place to live she heads off to her audition, and agrees to be the subject of Peyton’s film.  They head off to her audition only to learn that the talent scout isn’t interested in her but instead her dog, Boi.  Sharpay’s hopes are dashed, but she quickly moves on to plan B.  She decides to let Boi be the star but he has some competition with a dog named Countess and his mean spirited teenage owner.  It’s only when Sharpay finally stops putting her own needs first when everything seems to work out.  I assume that is the lesson of this G-rated Disney film.

The High School Musical films receive a solid three out of five rating in my book.  I didn’t feel like the character of Sharpay needed to be explored further or warranted a starring role after the original films.  Despite that, I will applaud Ashley Tisdale’s amazing voice.  The girl can sing, and does it frequently in the film.  With a voice like hers, it was very implausible that she would be so carelessly overlooked by the talent agent.  The idea that he was looking for the dog and approached her about it after her own concert was very contrived.

One additional problem which is huge for me (but probably insignificant to the sane world) was her shoes.  Tisdale wore the same weird and creepy shoes with multiple outfits.  I completely hated the shoes but more than that, I hated the idea that a fashionista like Sharpay would wear the same shoes with so many outfits.  That character would have had a different pair of shoes for every cab ride.  It bothered me, and I feel better now that we’ve talked about it.  Thank you for listening.

Video  

By and large, this 1080p (1.78:1) transfer looks really good with only some grain issues to bring it down.  Colors are vibrant (especially all of the pink!) and it offers a nice sharp picture that has a lot of detail.  Black levels are good as is contrast and flesh tones are natural and consistent throughout the movie.  Some excessive grain pops up now and again but overall this has a very nice picture.

Audio  

Sharpay’s Fabulous Adventure has a Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound mis that’s good but imbalanced.  This one of those films that has the dialogue at a low level and then blows the roof off when the music starts up which makes you keep a hand on your remote.  This film made surprisingly good use of the surround channels especially during the final stage performance when the actors stomped around the stage and it truly sounded as though they had filled the room.  As I said, Tisdale’s amazing voice carries loud and clear and sounds great during the musical moments.  High School Musical fans may be interested to know that the soundtrack features Lucas Grabeel.  Grabeel played her brother Ryan Evans in the HSM movies.

Special Features  

There are not a lot of special features on these discs and none of them were particularly interesting.  I feel like they were reaching for special features and Austin Cam is the only special feature that is all that special.

• Bloopers (on Blu-ray and DVD) –  Whatever is making the actors laugh doesn’t translate to the audience.  Usually, it’s the dog biting something he isn’t supposed to.  Working with animals obviously isn’t easy.
• Austin Cam (on Blu-ray and DVD) –  By far the most interesting aspect of the movie is that the actor Austin Butler was filming while he was acting like a filmmaker.   He had to deliver his lines while really shooting film, keeping care not to get boom mikes or other cameras in his shots.  The film he shot during filming was used in the actual movie.
• The Evolution of Sharpay (Blu Ray Only) –  Ashley Tisdale discusses that Sharpay wasn’t the most lovable character in the High School Musical movies and she feels as though there was more Sharpay to get to know in this starring role.

Final Thoughts  

Ashamed to be a High School Musical fan, I have another confession.  The press release states that a 3 Disc Blu-ray Combo Pack with limited edition clutch purse is available and I wish I had received the purse version to review.  I might have given the movie a whole extra star after being in such a great mood from getting a new purse!

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