Director:
Mike Mitchell
Cast:
Michael Angarano .... Will Stronghold
Summary:
Young Will Stronghold is the son of two famous superheroes, so his first day at freshman year of Sky High is met with a lot of expectations from his peers and teachers. He's having a hard time adjusting, and little does anyone know, major trouble is brewing behind the scenes, as an arch nemesis of Jetstream and The Commander - Will's parents - is planning to seek revenge.
Review:
Great family fun! This is a movie to take the young kids to without fear of frightening them out of their seats. Not only that, I had a hell of a great time, with plenty of solid laughs, and the great group of young actors kept me from rolling my eyes. Now THAT'S a testament to great filmmaking! A child-actor heavy cast of kids that don't piss me off. Amazing! I should give the movie an A+ just for that!
Sky High sits high in the sky, and kids are transported by flying bus - or fly themselves - to superhero school. It feels like this movie mixes elements of Marvel heroes with Harry Potter, the X-Men movie, and The Incredibles, and without those movies, this wouldn't have been made. But hey, so what? It's a movie made for a younger audience that delivers the goods for the parents as well. We all know who the real bad guys and the real good guys are. We also know that being labelled a Sidekick doesn't mean you can't be a Hero. Sky High does rely upon all the expected story formulas. That doesn't matter, though, because you'll be too busy enjoying the fun to be had. Maybe I'm too much like a ten year old boy, but that's what I felt like while watching this.
I'm also going to Hell, because Kelly Vitz - Magenta - is too beautiful for words. I wonder if she has an older sister, and if so, can I get her phone number? Man, she's a hawtie!! I hope for good things for this young lady in the future, because I wouldn't mind seeing her in more movies!
Michael Angarano did a great job as Will. The most effective of the younger cast was Steven Strait as Warren Peace. He crosses his arms too often during the cafeteria fight, but seriously, this guy's got chops. Bruce Campbell always kicks ass, and I couldn't help it, but every time he was onscreen I would start chuckling. He's still got an amazing sense of comedic timing, and no one could be a better choice as the coach.
The acting is solid, the storyline itself is effective. Some of the dialogue falls short here and there, especially in Russel's case, but he, too, is a movie champ and it doesn't throw me into fits of anger and cause me to start to scream "HULK! SMASH!" The most annoying thing for me was the arch nemesis. This person, mixed with the sidekick, is too Power Rangers hokey. The costumes for both of these people were even more retarded than the Stronghold's outfits, and I tried to look past this bit of aggrivation, but it would be impossible to go unnoticed. The music is sometimes too commercial for the moment, obviously trying to sell itself in the music stores, and there is just enough weak storytelling and predictable plot to keep this from being anything more than a great time at the movies... especially if you're ten years old!
If you want to see a comic-book type flick that isn't heavy on the sentimentality or darkness of the characters, or just need something that you aren't afraid your kids will be afraid of, Sky High is the movie to see! I have no kids, but I felt like a kid at heart while watching it. That's about all I was asking for.
GRADE: B
Reviewed 9/2/05