There are a lot of movies these days that try to portray the teenage years of our lives.
Whether it is an ode to high school years of decades past or a contemporary depiction of high school life, most of the time the makers commit the mistake of making the characters as adult as can be at a stage when everyone is basically immature at best.
The result is that the characters seem obnoxious and annoying and the scenes impossible to relate to.
Luckily, the movie High School Musical does not commit this mistake.
All the actors seem to be in the right age and their characters are not insecure men and women who are having a mid-life crisis.
This fact alone makes the move High School Musical a sure winner.
This depiction of the characters is an accomplishment in itself given the quality of supposed teen films in recent years.
High School Musical clearly knows its audience and has a firm grasp of what their audience wants.
This TV Movie started off relatively low key and clearly nobody anticipated the kind of phenomenon that it soon became.
While there was indeed some hype and publicity leading up to its premiere in the Disney Channel, nobody anticipated that it would be this big for so long.
In the months after its initial broadcast, High School Musical would slowly but surely capture the imagination of teenyboppers world wide.
A lot of this has to do with the very talented and charismatic cast led by Zach Efron and Vanessa Hudgens.
These two portray star crossed lovers, as much as star crossed people can be in high school - who risk their being able to fit in just to be able to be together.
Efron is a revelation in this movie and showcased real vocal talent and charismatic flair in portraying a high school kid.
Vanessa Hudgens on the other hand is a totally new discovery and matched Efron step by step and note for note.
It easy to dismiss such accomplishments of these stars since they are not exactly portraying Romeo and Juliet in a Shakespearean play but they are still performances that are quite notable.
In fact, High School Musical is so far at the other edge of the spectrum when it comes to drama from Shakespeare's opus.
However, one should remember that the aim of this move is t bring positivity into young teenage life and not tragedy.
In this, both actors shine with the rest of the cast members who effortlessly allow themselves to delve into their shallow yet fun characters.
High School Musical has shown us something that a lot of contemporary films about high school have failed to show or ignore entirely.
They have shown that high school life can be fun and exciting and very colorful indeed.