"Musical 2" is a good time

The charming and playful sequel to Disney's original "High School Musical," is a blast of music, drama and summer fun.

As I turned on the television to watch the ecstatic faces of the energetic cast, I noticed how more music was included and the seemingly stereotypical plot was carried out.

The handsome Zac Effron (Troy Bolton) is known from the previous movie as the high school basketball captain with the voice of an angel. The main issue for him in the first movie was to choose between basketball and singing — in addition to maintaining a relationship with his love interest, Gabriella Montez (Vanessa Anne Hudgens).

In the sequel, Troy's relationship with Gabriella continues into the summer as they both work at the Lava Springs Country Club. However, there is a catch to this summer lovin' — Sharpay Evans (Ashley Tisdale) vacations at this club and as a spoiled spotlight lover, creates most of the drama to be the star of the talent show. She also tries to win Troy's love.

Typically, the drama unfolds and the musical numbers are sung, but as I watched with my siblings, they got weary after the long numbers — especially the overly dramatic ones when Gabriella cries her eyes out. She reminded me of a little girl who lost her puppy, not someone in high school who would maturely deal with the situation.

However, no one can forget the musical number with Troy rushing off into the desert to vent his feelings out about losing Gabriella. To me, the whole thing looks like a corny boy band from the '90s singing their hearts out — only in this case, it happens to be a one-person show.

Overall, the movie is a fairly good sequel, with its catchy tunes and colorful characters. With its acting, soundtrack and character involvement, it's better than the first.