Sky High
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Sky High is a 2005 American superhero comedy film directed by Mike Mitchell, and written by Paul Hernandez, and Kim Possible creators Bob Schooley and Mark McCorkle. The film stars Kelly Preston, Michael Angarano, Danielle Panabaker, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, and Kurt Russell. It follows Will Stronghold (Angarano), the son of two superheroes, who is enrolled in an airborne high school for teenage superheroes where his powers kick in. He must deal with a growing distance from his old friends, a threat from a mysterious supervillain, and get the girl of his dreams.
The film was theatrically released by Buena Vista Pictures Distribution on July 29, 2005, and grossed $86.4 million worldwide against a production budget of $35 million. The film received generally positive reviews from critics and audiences during its original theatrical run and has since been recognized as a cult film.
Plot
At a school in the sky where teens learn how to be superheroes, Will Stronghold lands in a class for students who show special promise. Classmate Gwen quickly cozies up to Will, but it's soon clear that she has other motives. When he learns that Gwen's mother is a villain who was defeated by his father, Steve Stronghold, Will realizes that Gwen is aiming for revenge, and he rushes to a school dance in the hope of stopping her.
Higher Qualities
- The idea of a high school for superheroes is very cool and original.
- The movie has a very classic, imaginative, and nostalgic feel to it. It has a style most superhero movies don't have.
- It has a ton of epic action scenes, like the cafeteria scene and the prom scene.
- The production values are good.
- Likable and awesome characters, like Will Stronghold, a sympathetic character who can't gain powers until the final battle, his friends, and his parents.
- Great casting, with Kurt Russell and Kelly Preston and Commander and Jetstream, Bruce Campbell as Coach Boomer, and Lynda Carter (who used to play Wonder Woman) as Principal Powers.
- Susan Tenny/Gwendolyn Grayson (Royal Pain) is a threatening villain.
- Awesome soundtrack by Michael Giacchino, who composed other superhero films like The Incredibles, and Spider-Man: Homecoming.
- "I Melt With You" by Bowling for Soup is also pretty good.
- An unexpected twist where it turns out that Will's love interest is an evil villain in disguise who wants to rule the world.
- It has a great and funny reference to the ’70s Wonder Woman tv series, which is pretty cool, to say the least.
- "SIDEKICK!!!"
- Despite not aging well, the CGI effects look decent at the time, as they look decent and also fit the film's light-hearted theme very well.
- Cool direction by Mike Mitchell, who later directed Shrek Forever After, and Trolls.
- Tom Kenny and Jill Talley's (SpongeBob SquarePants) cameos as Mr. and Mrs. Chester Timmerman are hilarious.
- Great writing by Bob Schooley and Mark McCorkle, known for Kim Possible and Buzz Lightyear To The Rescue.
Lower Qualities
- As typical for a Disney teen film, it still has those typical high school cliches.
- The CGI effects, while decent, looked cheap and haven't aged well in the slightest, as they look like they're made using the Unreal Engine or made specifically for a computer-animated film.
- Depending on your view, the prom scene can be annoying.
- The party at Will's house, while not incredibly mean-spirited, is probably the most intolerable scene in the movie, and not all the misunderstandings were cleared up very well.
- The part where Gwen lies to Layla is painful to watch.
- Layla, while not horrible, is very unlikeable:
- The thing with her not showing her powers to Coach Boomer (only because the situation is not serious enough) is silly, unnecessary, and questionable.
- Her plan of making Will jealous by spending time with Warren Peace is absurd and kind of annoying.
- She's gullible: She gets easily fooled when Gwen lies to her about Will and never once tried thinking he would do such a thing.
Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 73% based on reviews from 131 critics, with an average rating of 6.5/10. The site's critical consensus states: "This highly derivative superhero coming-of-age flick is moderately entertaining, family-friendly fluff." On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 62 based on reviews from 29 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade of A− on a scale of A+ to F.
Videos
External Links
Sky High at the Internet Movie Database
Sky High on Rotten Tomatoes
Sky High on Metacritic