Review: Sky High (2005)

Sky High (2005)

Rated PG for action violence and some mild language

Score: 3 out of 5

Before Disney realized that they had more money than God, enough to simply buy out Marvel Comics and their newly-launched film studio, they were looking for other ways to get in on the early boom in superhero movies in the 2000s, after the success of X-Men and Spider-Man showed Hollywood that people would watch movies about costumed crimefighters not named Superman or Batman but before The Dark Knight and the Marvel Cinematic Universe turned it into the dominant genre for big-budget blockbuster filmmaking. Their solution was pure Disney: make a parody film about the children of Earth's mightiest heroes going to a special school, less like the X-Men movies than it is a sci-fi Harry Potter. The result got good reviews, made money, and remains something of a cult classic among Disney fans, superhero fans, and 2000s kids alike, and it's easy to see why: it's an eminently charming family comedy with modest ambitions that doesn't do much you wouldn't expect from "classic" Disney, but is elevated by a great cast, lots of solid jokes, some inspired riffing on the superhero genre, and a nice message conveyed well.

Will is the son of Steve and Josie Stronghold, a pair of seemingly mild-mannered realtors who secretly live a double life as the Commander and Jetstream, lawyer-friendly versions of Superman and Wonder Woman who fight crime and protect the city and Earth from supervillains and other grave threats. Will is about to start attending Sky High, a high school hidden away in the clouds where the sons and daughters of superheroes go to train to follow in their parents' footsteps. The problem: Will doesn't seem to have powers of his own, lacking his father's super-strength, his mother's flight, or anything that stands out from just an average Joe, meaning that he gets put in the "hero support" track (i.e. sidekicks) with the losers. Sure, this means he gets to hang out with his childhood friends, the plant-manipulating nature lover Layla and the glow-in-the-dark Zack, and make new friends in the melting man Ethan and the guinea-pig shapeshifter Magenta, but it also gets him picked on by bullies like the strechy-limbed Lash, the self-explanatory Speed, and the self-duplicating cheerleader Penny, leaves him defenseless against the pyrokinetic outcast Warren Peace who hates the Commander for busting his supervillain father, and leaves the girl of his dreams, the technopath Gwen Grayson, permanently off-limits. Of course, this wouldn't be a superhero story without a supervillain, and a mysterious figure named Royal Pain who holds a grudge against the Commander and Jetstream is lurking from the shadows, planning vengeance.

Being a Disney family comedy from before they became a world-conquering juggernaut, this isn't a movie you watch for the action and special effects. The superhero action here is fairly small-scale, and the effects shots aren't particularly impressive, especially in hindsight. They more or less do what they need to, nothing more and nothing less, and that is serve as background material for the film's characters and universe, rooted in a distinctly old-fashioned, Superman-esque vision of superheroes as crusaders for truth, justice, and the American Way. Much of the story is built around sending up concepts like secret identities, sidekicks, and gimmick powers that parents probably still associate with superheroes but haven't had much currency in the MCU/DCEU era of the genre. It's corny, but it meshes well with the film's decidedly family-friendly Disney ethos, especially with all the playful jabs that the film gets in, like how it heavily implies that the Commander treated his sidekick like dirt, or boasting numerous shout-outs and references from cameos to names.

It all served as some very nice flavor for the high school drama, which was fairly sweet but also fairly predictable, elevated by the cast more than anything. If you've seen a teen comedy about the cool loser outcasts getting revenge on the mean, popular kids, then the only real twist here is that they all have superpowers. The brooding bad boy Warren turns out to have a heart of gold beneath his rough exterior, the bullies get humiliated in comical fashion, the "losers" all turn out to have a lot to contribute, and even Will finding out he had powers all along and was just a late bloomer is used mainly to set up a story about him falling in with the in crowd and losing touch with his old friends, a plot that Mean Girls did far more effectively. The only point where the film really went above and beyond came with the villain Royal Pain, who, without spoiling anything, was a pretty good commentary on how bullying can scar a person even long after they've come back and become far more successful than they ever were before -- helped along by an excellent and gleefully campy performance from an actor who's since proven to be a reliable presence in a lot of movies I like. I would've loved to spend more time with Royal Pain, perhaps even clueing the audience in on their true nature early on to add a bit more dramatic tension to one particular character's scenes. Most fans remember, more than anything else, the villain of this movie, and they elevated every scene they were in, especially once you go back and watch the film again looking for all the hints as to who it is.

And finally, the cast is outstanding. Even with the fairly boilerplate story, the actors they got for this movie all steal the show. Michael Anganaro and Danielle Panabaker are both likable leads as Will and Layla, Steven Strait as Warren made a hell of a first impression before revealing his softer side, and Mary Elizabeth Winstead definitely sold Gwen Grayson as a dream girl for Will. The adults are a who's who of character actors, comedians, B-movie icons, and former superhero actors; Kurt Russell goes back to his Disney roots to play the Commander as Will's nice but disappointed father, Kelly Preston's Jetstream played the idea of a soccer mom superhero to the hilt, Bruce Campbell was impossible not to notice as a very vocal PE teacher, you could feel the resentment dripping off of Dave Foley's performance as the Commander's former sidekick turned teacher, and Lynda Carter got in some fun jabs at her past as Wonder Woman. The MVP, however, was the actor who played Royal Pain, whose performance as such not only contrasted sharply with what that character was like before, but proved to be wonderfully hammy and theatrical in just the right ways. The actor in question is one who I will happily watch in anything, and this movie was where it started.

The Bottom Line

Sky High is a movie that's still very entertaining, and a great watch with kids, even if (or perhaps because) superhero movies have moved on a fair bit from its depiction of them. If you're looking for a sillier take on superheroes, but one that doesn't treat you like an idiot, give this one a spin.