“Sky High” (2005) is totally formulaic, and that’s why it succeeds for most of its run time but ultimately flattens out into something safely disposable. It came out during what I like to think of as the Disney comedy boom of the early 21st century, the time of “Lizzie McGuire” and its ilk. Although the writers and director have worked almost entirely on Disney kids’ and animated projects, “Sky High” is a smart movie with a lot of too-wise-for-school humor.
Sharp humor
For instance, when one student at the titular superhero school asks “What’s embarrassing him in front of the entire class going to prove? That is so unfair,” the other responds with: “Yeah, well if life were to suddenly get fair, I doubt it would happen in high school.”
The blend of superheroes and high school comedy almost writes itself, but credit goes to director Mike Mitchell and the three writers (Paul Hernandez, Robert Schooley and Mark McCorkle) for finding this groove. There are plenty of films where this blend falls flat, but it has some zest here.
“Sky High” (2005)
Director: Mike Mitchell
Writers: Paul HernandezBob SchooleyMark McCorkle
Stars: Kurt Russell, Kelly Preston, Michael Angarano
The tropes of high school are given a superhero spin from Will Stronghold’s (Michael Angarano, young Nicky on “This Is Us”) first day as a freshman at the floating academy up through the homecoming dance, where villains are revealed and heroes prove themselves. The hero, sidekick and villain tropes match up in lockstep with popular-kid, loser and bully tropes.
In a John Hughesian touch, Will doesn’t notice that his bestie, Layla (Danielle Panabaker, later of “The Flash”), has developed feelings for him. Instead, he gets swept up by an opportunity that’s unlikely yet too good to pass up: The school’s resident popular hot girl, Gwen (Mary Elizabeth Winstead, later of “Scott Pilgrim”), likes him.
You know where most of this is going, and I’m less forgiving of paint-by-numbers plots than I used to be. By the climax, it’s a matter of hitting the obvious beats and ending the movie.
Consistent fun
But for most of “Sky High,” there’s consistent fun to be had in the gags and broad performances, such as Kurt Russell and Kelly Preston as Will’s parents, The Commander and Jetstream. His dad wants him to have super strength like him, his mom hopes he can fly like her.
The teens’ powers are amusingly on-the-nose, such as the “losers” who turn into goo, glow in the dark, and shapeshift (but only into a guinea pig). One of the mean-girl cheerleaders can split herself into six people, thus taking up a whole lunch table to shoo off the “losers.” The leather-jacket-wearing hothead’s power is making fireballs.
Smaller dashes of humor come from throwaway dialog, such as when the gym teacher (Bruce Campbell) – whose power is a sonic-booming voice – tries to get the big-brained “mad science” teacher to partner in a double-date. “She has an evil twin,” is his pitch.
The makeup, costumes and special effects sell “Sky High’s” colorful world without a problem. The soundtrack is successful in an equally slick but less appealing way, featuring a lot of 1980s Hughesian classics (“I Melt with You,” “Voices Carry,” “Everybody Wants to Rule the World”) covered by modern bands in the edgeless, Disneyfied style.
Ultimately, “Sky High” is a boardroom-produced product. That said, a quality commercial product can be fun to watch for about 90 minutes, and “Sky High” isn’t much longer than that.