Super Teens, Everyday Problems
Sky High is a Super Comedy
Having grown up on Kurt Russell movies (like the Disney classics Now You See Him, Now You Don't and The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes), I was already excited to see him return to the big screen in another Disney film. For a guy who has played everything from a squeaky clean kid to Charles Whitman to Snake Plissken, I wanted to see if he could return to the family comedy that gave him his start. Part of me feared that I wouldn't be able to see past the darker roles he has chosen over the past two decades.
Written by: Paul Hernandez and Bob Schooley &
Mark McCorkle
Starring: Michael Angarano, Kurt Russell, Kelly Preston, Danielle Panabaker, Bruce Campbell, Cloris Leachman, Kevin McDonald, Dave Foley, and Lynda Carter
Rated
(for
action violence and some mild language) Running time: 102 min.
FilmGuru's Rating : 8 out of 10.
In Sky High, Russell plays a iconic superhero named The Commander. Along with his partner Jetstream (Kelly Preston), he is the city's top hero. To Will Stronghold (Michael Angarano), however, The Commander and Jetstream are also Dad and Mom: Steve and Josie Stronghold. Like the child of other heroes, Will has had to adjust to living with his parents' secret identities and heroics. As a new school year begins, though, he also has to start living up to their reputation at their old school, Sky High.
Like any high school, Sky High is populated by pranksters and popular people, class clowns and homecoming queens. What makes Sky High different is that each student is the child of a superhero. Will, being the child of TWO heroes, is expected to be the top of his class. What he hasn't told anyone, though, is that he hasn't displayed any powers at all. While his best friend Layla (Danielle Panabaker) can affect the growth of plants, he hasn't been able to bench press more than a few pounds.
The staff at Sky High is filled with plenty of recognizable faces. As the head of the school, Lynda Carter plays Principal Powers. (Yes, they manage to squeeze in a Wonder Woman joke before the film is over.) Bruce Campbell (best known as Ash in the Evil Dead trilogy) plays Coach Boomer. Cloris Leachman, Kevin McDonald, and Dave Foley round out the staff.
There are comic book stereotypes and in-jokes aplenty, but it's also a story about high schools and the cliques in which kids find themselves. The tired cliches of jocks, rich kids, and nerds, are replaced by a different heirarchy at Sky High where students are divided among heroes and sidekicks. When Will fails his hero test, he makes friends among the "hero support" class. His teacher, the former All-American Boy (Foley) -- now simply "Mr. Boy" -- was once a sidekick of The Commander before Jetstream came along.
While the film seems destined for a predictable plot and cliché ending, the film manages to avoid both with creative plot twists that keep the story interesting. There are a number of fun heroes in the film, although it is the sidekicks -- with their less-than-stellar powers -- that add most of the comedy. Zach (Nicholas Braun) and Ethan (Dee Jay Daniels) are the likeable nerds that Will befriends, and must constantly rescue from the school bullies, Lash and Speed. Zach has the misfortune of glowing and Ethan can only turn into a puddle.
The special effects in the film are amazingly well done, considering that the comedy rather than the action is the draw of the story. While the shots of The Commander fighting a giant robot are a bit unrealistic (the perspective shifts quite a bit), the effects of the students are spot on. The costumes, likewise, are right out of the comics, looking as if they were sculpted rather than sewn.
The soundtrack is absolutely wonderful. Filled with covers of '80s tunes like "Melt With You" (done quite well by Bowling for Soup), this one is worth a listen. For me, the music filled that gap between the generations. While the bands were unfamiliar, the music was the same stuff I listened to in high school. It made it easy for me to mentally slip into being a teen again.
As for Kurt Russell, he makes an excellent role model, both as The Commander and as a dad to Will. The same boyish exuberance that identified Russell as a Disney actor for so many years is still evident in this 54-year old man. If Russell gets a chance, he could easily find his niche in Disney films again.
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