A Normal Teen movie... About Super-Heroes.Before seeing this movie, I read countless so-called "reviews" by people, mainly on the IMDB message boards, claiming this
movie was more kiddy-crap. Of course, this was weeks before the
movie came out and none of them had seen it. I must say that after seeing this, I'm pleasantly surprised. Sky High is a pretty good flick.People usually see "Walt
Disney Pictures" and freak out. Admittedly, I definitely have a less positive outlook on a
movie if it says it and it's not a fully animated film. Sky High has it's moments where it almost crosses into the *rolling eyes* reaction, but it never fully goes into it. It's actually a pretty good satire on Super-Hero movies, and that's only a small percentage of it. Actually, it's mainly a nice little satire of a
teen movie. I know, it doesn't seem like it from seeing previews from this movie, but it really is just a
teen movie, with some sprinkles of super-hero action. The action is pretty good, despite the fact that the
budget actually wasn't as high as most super-hero movies. Basically this kid Will Stronghold, is the son of The Commander and Jet stream. The kick is, and you should know it if you've seen the trailer, is that this kid has no super-powers to begin with. The way they judge your 'status' at this school, similar to the classic 'geeks and jocks' premise, is being chosen as a 'sidekick', or a 'hero'.Will have got to deal with the normal things of a teenager, like starting off freshman year. He already has someone that hates him, a guy with the clever name of Warren Peace. Someone actually asked on the IMDB message board if anyone noticed that it was just like "War and Peace"... You deserve to get hit in the face with a shovel. Anyway, Warren doesn't dig Will's vibe at all, because Will's super-dad took
care of Warren's evil dad.Warren's a fire shooting menace to society, at least that’s how he appears. But of course, life's not black and white, people. Shades of gray, folks, and shades of gray. Warren's actually, *gasp* sensitive. What a swerve. Okay, I said I liked the movie, but I saw that coming pretty easily.Besides dealing with this, Will have known this girl forever, and has no idea that his best friend is in
love with him. Instead, he has a crush on an older chick. Sixteen Candles, anyone? Any other random
teen movie, anyone? Coach Boomer, with no pun involving a certain 'Boomstick', is played by B-movie sensation, Evil Dead star, best-selling author, the man who not only named Spider-Man in the movie, but is the only person to defeat Spider-Man, Bruce Campbell. Okay, now that I over hyped him as though he were a
God among men, now it's time to actually talk about his character.When you think of Bruce Campbell, many things come to mind, one of them, of course, is one-liner. Does Bruce have one-liners in this film? Yes, yes he does. You figure with a chin such as that, he should have played a Super-Hero (not including Ash) year ago. Unfortunately, he's a retired super-hero in this film, but that's good enough for me. His powers include a sonic-boom voice. Thus the name, Boomer. He's the noble PE
teacher in this film. He gets awarded the great
job of testing all of the
students and deciding whether or not the student before him is a 'sidekick' or a 'hero'. He has an important role, and a pretty good amount of screen time.Kurt Russell is great as The Commander, playing the classic big-chinned muscular hero. He also has the attitude you rarely see from such heroes, as he's pretty much freaked out that his son could become a 'lowly sidekick'. It has a total Varsity Blues status-overbearing father. He wants his son to be a great hero who saves the world, a direct comparison to
parents who push their
kids to become captain of the
football team.Overall, I'd recommend this
movie to anyone. They did the
family genre right, and of course, lest any of you forget, Bruce Campbell is in this movie. That's all I have to say.Breakdown time...Campiness? Very much so, Golden Age super-hero satire.Retro Feel? Yes, very reminiscent of old-school comics... and 80's
teen movies.Genre: Super-Hero family.Message? Probably something about how you can end up being awesome even if you start off shaky.Originality:Pretty good satire, done in an original way, and it's pretty unique... 7/10Performance:Family
movies aren't exactly most known for the acting, but it wasn't bad, enjoyable enough, and nothing was terrible. 6.5/10Casting Choice:I liked it; the kid actors weren't over the top in a Lizzie McGuire show style, so it was good. 6.5/10Comic Book Action Factor:The
battles are pretty sweet, along with the display of powers. Good effects. 8/10Plot:Story had little swerves, and played out like a
teen movie does. 7/10Final Score: 7/10
