YMMV / High School Musical 3: Senior Year

• Accidental Innuendo: "Can't you see that bigger is better and better is bigger?"
• Award Snub: All 11 of the new songs in the movie were eligible for the Best Original Song category which had three slots available that year. None of them received a nomination.
• Awesome Music: Again, the songs across the board all hit it:
  • "Right Here, Right Now" is often a fan favorite from the film.
  • "I Want It All" really showed what the series could do with a bigger budget.
  • "The Boys Are Back".
  • "Now or Never".
  • "Can I Have This Dance" is absolutely lovely. "It's like catching lightning/the chances of finding/someone like you..."
  • "Just Wanna Be With You" while not anywhere near as loved as the song directly above is still remembered as a sweet duet. It also receives an awesome remix as part of "Senior Year Spring Musical".
  • While "Walk Away" is not the best of the Gabriella Tear Jerker solos, it's still one worth singing a bit of from time to time.
  • "Scream" is possible the crowning Awesome Music for the series.
  • "A Night To Remember".
  • The versions of previous songs during the play deserve mention. This also includes the brief "Last Chance" duet between Ryan and Kelsi, to the point that during a tribute to musicals at the Academy Awards that year, the bit with Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens sang it there.
  • "We're All In This Together (Graduation Mix)" adds pathos to what's often already considered the premier song of the series.
  • The finale song "High School Musical".
  • The credits song "Just Getting Started" has a nice beat to it and highlights the winner of the tie-in reality competition Stan Carrizosa.
  • "Dance With Joy", the song used in the Sara Lee tie-in.
• Ensemble Dark Horse: Tiara, a freshman who managed to keep up a sweet and nice facade for a whole year, and then manipulated Alpha Bitch Sharpay and stabbed her in the back. Fortunately for Sharpay's fans, though, Sharpay still got the last laugh.
• Fanon: In the same vein, Ryan being gay has been pretty much accepted as fact among fans, usually accompanied by a handwave that Kelsi is just a beard. Surprisingly^note or not few people consider the option he might be bi.
• Harsher in Hindsight:
  • Matt Prokop's scenes in Senior Year, considering the abuse allegations from girlfriend Sarah Hyland and the fact that they met while auditioning for 3 become much more uncomfortable to watch.^note Although, his denial post-Me Too is that the claims came up not long after Ray Rice was charged.
  • The lyrics of the third film's finale ("High School Musical") are about the team "taking their final bow". Originally meant to be referring to the fact that it's the final movie of the series, it takes a new meaning when you consider that only Zac and Vanessa really went on to have successful careers (Ashley also, to an extent). In fact, when the main six reunited, Efron didn't show up because he was busy promoting a movie with his co-star Robert De Niro.
• Ho Yay: Senior Year has Troy practice a dance move, which he and Sharpay were supposed to perform together, with Ryan. When asked to actually do the move with Sharpay, he complains that Ryan was the better partner.
• Magnificent Bitch: Tiara Gold is the seemingly proper and polite London schoolgirl who it turns out attended the Dramatic Arts school. A Freshman transferring to East High and wanting to take over once Sharpay Evans has graduated, Tiara applies to be Sharpay's personal assistant, getting herself hired through proving how intensely familiar she is with both Sharpay's schedule and routine and performing other personal tasks for her as each occasion calls for it while remaining by her side at all times. Upon being assigned as an understudy in the play, Tiara passes on info to Sharpay that she stealthily learned so Sharpay can arrange for Troy Bolton to encourage girlfriend Gabriella Montez to leave early for college resulting in Sharpay taking Gabriella's role alongside Troy while Tiara takes Sharpay's. Tiara then reveals herself to Sharpay as having used her, works Sharpay's interruption into her performance and amicably accepts defeat when Sharpay beats her.
• Narm:
  • "The Boys Are Back" from Senior Year.
  • "Scream", also from 3. Basically "Bet On It" with a bigger budget that was not at all. The titular scream that ends the song could not be more wooden.
• Strangled by the Red String: In a badly-made excuse to stop the rumors that the character is gay, Ryan was paired up with Kelsi in Senior Year. They are good together, if you ignore the fact Kelsi was paired with Jason in the first two and the insane amount of (intentional) flirting between Ryan and Chad in 2.
• Surprisingly Improved Sequel:
  • Between a better budget, more production time and the adorable chemistry Troy and Gabriella have developed through Zac and Vanessa's Romance on the Set, Senior Year is probably the best of the three films. Not to mention Troy and Gaby's relationship gets some depth, as with e.g. their confiding in each other about their fears for the future — it really becomes obvious why they like each other and work as a couple beyond "their singing voices sound nice together".
  • Each sequel got better in terms of budget and production, with the first one looking much less cinematic than the third.^note Reportedly, the films' budgets went from $4.2m (1) to $7m (2) to $11m (Senior Year).
• Tear Jerker:
  • "Right Here, Right Now" in Senior Year as Troy and Gabriella consider their future apart from each other. The cut reprise version - set after they've said goodbye - is even worse.
  • The Senior Year finale has the cast ending the song jumping in front of a literal Title Drop. Then we get a close up of each of the character's faces. There's no dancing, no singing, just them standing there smiling, before taking a company bow. It seems awkward at first, but then it hits you: this is their curtain call. These six talented actors are saying goodbye to their characters, and to us. It's a subtle, but effective, instance of Leaning on the Fourth Wall.
• The Woobie:
  • Gabriella's backstory: It's implied her father has passed away and her mom's constantly-relocating job meant she never settled anywhere. Plus she struggles to make friends because of being labeled as the 'freaky math girl' wherever she goes.
  • Troy in Senior Year. Everyone around him is pressuring him to do different things, he has no idea what to do with his life, and his girlfriend - who he admits was the one person who doesn't see him as the perfect basketball boy - is leaving.

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