I don’t know if it’s naiveness or pretension, but “High School Musical 3: Senior Year” fails to bring into play real-world elements that fill teenagers’ more or less exciting lives nowadays. Thus, it can’t be taken for more than a flick and, if you ask me, it should have stuck to television… 1960s television, that is.

In spite of the fact that they are one step away from graduation and that they claim to be cool and fashionable young people, the kids in the film know nothing about sex, booze, nightclubs or whatever it is that modern youngsters dream of.

Parents would enjoy such a world, where high school experience is nothing but scholarship challenge and stage drama, as their children would not face the dangers of a cruel society, but let’s face it: this is fiction.

Snow White and the seven dwarfs lived once upon a time and so did Cinderella. However, the “High School Music” fairytale dances in the present, along with real-life 7-year-olds who still believe in such euphoric stories.

While swaying from one gorgeous teen to another, the third installment of the absurdly booming Disney Channel franchise shapes up a flash in musical-film history that is perhaps as fleeting as it is conquering.

Troy Bolton (Zac Efron) and Gabriella Montez (Vanessa Hudgens) are once again in the spotlight of East High School, where they face the difficulties of senior year, as, willingly or not, they have to take their future into their own hands. Thus, the focuses of the movie – Gabriella and Troy’s relationship is on the rocks; Troy has to choose between a basketball scholarship or a drama one, for which he has to compete with fellow student princess Sharpay Evans (Ashley Tisdale) – are just a bunch of extra-terrestrial teen issues that make no point. In addition, some pieces do not appear to be part of the same puzzle. Key events come about out of the blue, while other happenings are immediately dumped and big portions of the script seem to have been swallowed by a black hole.

The Shakespearian “to be or not to be” question of the film is far from being vital, while the conflict in the character’s mind is rather illogical. The only thing appealing about the movie may be the presence of Zac Efron, who is dazzlingly magnetic with his plain blue eyes, as well as his incredible smile. And “High School Musical 3” brings to light more than his pretty face; he has what it takes to personify a great front man.

However, “Senior Year” manages to keep reality far away from its plot. I don’t know if it’s a good thing or a bad thing from a child’s point of view, but if things were meant to be this way, I’d honestly go for Mickey Mouse.