After a truly fun and Disney magical HSM, the sequel leaves the fan flat on the floor from disappointment. I found the entire first half of the film unfocused, boring and centered nearly entirely on Ashley Tisdale. We know that Disney likes Ashley and promotes her big time, but there were other talented actors and actresses that were underutilized and basically didn't add a thing to the film because they were never part of a storyline. They were treated solely as eye candy and background dancers.<br /><br />The original HSM started to imply that there might be developing other couples that I had hoped would continue in this film. I wanted to see Chad and Taylor, as well as Jason and Kelsi, but instead we got a nearly unrecognizable Sharpay shoved down our throats.<br /><br />Sharpay in HSM was crafty, self-centered and self-loving, but in this sequel, they turned her into a miniature Paris Hilton. Why the drastic character personality change? She was downright annoying and far from entertaining to watch. I enjoyed her in the original HSM, but really yawned at her in this one.<br /><br />While I didn't like they way they tried to transform Troy into a first class jerk, I did enjoy watching Zac show us a much deeper range of acting skill. I enjoyed his angst number in black. He truly did remind me of Ren in Footloose and I can see him using that footage to try and land work for that developing remake. Zac is too talented to keep playing Troy. He has clearly moved on in both talent and skill. It was clear he tried to salvage what he could of this poor storyline, but even his talent wasn't enough to save such a bad script. It was nice to have his voice in this sequel and the only truly memorable number in the film is the one he and Vanessa sing (Music in Me), although I did like his angst number performance as well.<br /><br />Vanessa was barely in the film. Same with Lucas, Chad and Monique. These are talented actors that barely had any screen time or story. What a shame to waste such talent. Shame on the producers and director! Unfortunately the script in this sequel really destroyed the magic of HSM and was a suffer to sit through.<br /><br />The choreography was promised to be stepped up a lot, but there really wasn't much in the film beyond the first ten minutes and last five minutes. So where was this stepped up choreography? I kept looking for it, but it didn't ever show its face.<br /><br />The entire rest of the film was primarily a really predictable, boring story that featured a character that was completely out of character (Sharpay). What a shame to have tanked so bad after such an enjoyable original film.