Sky High (2005)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Mike Mitchell

Writers (WGA):

Paul Hernandez (written by) and
Robert Schooley (written by) ...

Release Date:

29 July 2005 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Comedy | Family | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

Brains, Brawn And Beyond.

Plot:

Set in a world where superheroes are commonly known and accepted, young Will Stronghold, the son of the Commander and Jetstream, tries to find a balance between being a normal teenager and an extraordinary being.

Plot Keywords:

School | Commander | Sidekick | High School | Flying

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Michael Angarano	...	Will Stronghold
Kurt Russell	...	Steve Stronghold / The Commander
Kelly Preston	...	Josie Stronghold / Jetstream
Danielle Panabaker	...	Layla Williams
Christopher Wynne	...	News Anchor (as Chris Wynne)
Kevin Heffernan	...	Ron Wilson - Bus Driver
Dee Jay Daniels	...	Ethan (as Dee-Jay Daniels)
Kelly Vitz	...	Magenta
Loren Berman	...	Little Larry
Nicholas Braun	...	Zach
Malika	...	Penny
Khadijah	...	Penny
Jake Sandvig	...	Lash
Will Harris	...	Speed
Mary Elizabeth Winstead	...	Gwen Grayson / Royal Pain

MPAA:

Rated PG for action violence and some mild language.

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Cantonese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Philippines:G | Ireland:PG | Argentina:Atp | Brazil:10 | Germany:6 | Iceland:L (original rating) | Iceland:LH (video rating) | Netherlands:6 | Denmark:7 | Norway:7 | South Korea:All | Canada:G (Alberta/British Columbia/Ontario/Quebec) | USA:PG (certificate #41859) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Nova Scotia) | Australia:PG | UK:PG | Singapore:PG | Finland:K-11

Filming Locations:

Barwick Studios - 4585 Electronics Place, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Max Stronghold Productions Inc.

Trivia:

Gwen Grayson is a combination of two comic book names from two franchises: Gwen Stacy of Spider-Man (Marvel) and Dick Grayson (DC Comics).

Goofs:

Continuity: When Will is sent to the nurse, the nurse was wearing a stethoscope around her neck, but when she turned sideways to put the equipment back, she turned to face Will again, and the stethoscope was gone.

Quotes:

Will Stronghold: [narrating] You look at them and see the defenders of the world. All I see is my dad wearing tights.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Troldspejlet: (#34.7)" (2005)

Soundtrack:

Everybody Wants to Rule the World

Could be a sleeper!

I think Disney misfired with the very poor The Pacifier and had higher expectations from the Herbie movie. But they'll do surprisingly well with this kids flick, I think. Perhaps we even have a sleeper here.

When I saw the Sky High trailer I thought I was going to see the next installment of Spy Kids. Okay, there are a lot of crazy special effects in this movie, but the story is actually driven by the nice performances by almost all the actors instead of lots of SFX.

The film is about young Will Stronghold (charming performance by Michael Angarano), son of the two most popular and successful superheroes in the world, The Commander (Kurt Russell) and Jetstream (Kelly Preston). Will is about to go to Sky High, a school especially founded for superheroes, but there's one problem: he doesn't own any superpower. Instead of being a superhero, his highest goal seems to be the one of sidekick. So how can he survive at school being the son of the world most famous super duo? And how will his parents react when they hear the bad news?

Sky High is a very entertaining family movie with lots of good hearted humor. Early in the movie Bruce Campbell (oh yeah!) steals the show as (ex-hero, now teacher) Sonic Boomer, who has a 'Sorting Hat' scene in which he determines which student will go to hero class and which ones will study for sidekick. Kurt Russell gives a great tongue-in-cheek performance as proud daddy who thinks it's great that his son defeats all the bullies at school but has to condemn it in front of his wife. And that's the opinion of a someone who isn't actually a fan of the actor himself. The original little ideas dry out after the first half of the movie, but who said that all family movies should have Oscar power?

Sky High is a movie about friendship, falling in love with the wrong girl, falling in love with the right girl and trying to succeed in your parents footsteps. Very entertaining for the kids, and some nice laughs for parents too (during the Sidekick lessons given by ex-All American Boy for instance: lots a references to the Robin from the Batman TV-series). Great 80's soundtrack as well, with covers from songs by The Smiths, Talking Heads, Tears for Fears and even Till Tuesday and Modern English.