\"Sky High\" reminded me of the dreadful 1981 cartoon series, \"The Kid Super Power Hour With Shazzam.\" That show is terrible. The amination is terrible, the jokes are terrible. The voiceover is terrible. Everything is terrible. Now back to \"Sky High.\" It better that I though. I like the relationship between father and son. The campus life at Shy High is okay too. But after the third reel, the film began to fall apart. I was hopping for a recommendation, but the final act of the movie fell short. I can\'t recommend the movie.

The Bastard Offspring of John Hughes and Joel Schumacher.

Recall, if you are secure enough in your manhood, those John Hughes films of the mid-80s: perturbed teens discovering themselves, blah blah. Now recall, if you dare, the *Batman* franchise under the frivolous wrist of Joel Schumacher: all coruscating color and comic-book éclat.

Now squish those two milieux together. Voila! *Sky High*.

Teens discovering themselves blah blah amidst coruscating color and comic-book éclat. To accuse this movie of cliché is to accuse Richard Simmons of homosexuality; that is, though it would like to think of itself as otherwise – it’s WAY TOO OBVIOUS… Where the movie rights itself in the weak-beer-drenched waters of teen-movie plagiarism is in its droll premise that these discomfited teens are the offspring of SUPERHEROES.

Even so, that concept can be appreciated only until one realizes how securely Superhero Movies have entrenched themselves as an economic cog on Wall Street (i.e. if the next *Spiderman* or *X-Men* bombs, a lot of parents are going to be raising their children on shoe-flavored soup), therefore it should be no surprise that every facet of the genre will be mined for profits, initially with seemingly “original” angles, but ultimately simply filling cookie-cutter demand. There is already the high ground (*Spiderman*, *X-Men*), the low ground (*Fantastic Four*, *Daredevil*), the so-so (*Hulk*, *Blade Trinity*); there is the watershed (*Batman Begins*), the animation (*The Incredibles*), the real-world grit (*Punisher*) and the simply woeful (*Elektra* - which also caters to the SHE-ro department), each niche being filled as quickly as market analysts can identify the vacuum. Don’t be surprised when Superhero movies start mimicking “reality shows”, or turn to Super-Animals (Krypto, anyone?) when the Ideas Men who drink their own urine in dank cubicles of unoriginality start realizing that they’ve painted themselves into demographic corners.

For the time being, we have our Superhero Teen Comedy to contend with. And it is enjoyable enough – if you’ve been vacationing as doggedly as George W. Bush, removed from all public media and cultural dynamics. But if you’ve seen one teen movie which elevates the hormonally-drenched pseudo-problems of libidinous over-privileged studiously-hip teens to the import of a United Nations Symposium on Global Oil Embargos, you’ve seen ‘em all. This one just has people wearing capes in it.

Even through its abject impossibility, we can readily accept the concept of a school for Superhero children - Sky High University (an exclusive campus floating miles above the earth) – due to our cultural inundation over these past few years with a surfeit of Superhero movie-fare. Consequently, none of the “powers” exhibited by the kids need to be expositioned, as we’ve grown so accustomed to the idiom: a bully blowing icy breath and freezing another kid where he stands is accepted without awe; as is a girl who can duplicate herself, or a boy who can throw fireballs.

Attending Sky High is Will Stronghold, son of the world’s two highest-profile Superheroes, The Commander and Jetstream (Kurt Russell and Kelly Preston, both wearing tights deployed for maximum prurient effect in the opposite gender), who faces his coming-of-age dilemma: to hang with the Heroes and bang the slutty chick or mope with the Nerds and get roped into a “relationship” with the homely chick? Oh, the mind-scarring problems of over-privileged American teens!

Two *Kids In The Hall* alumni (Kevin McDonald and Dave Foley) elevate the comedy, as has-been Heroes reduced to teaching positions at Sky High.

The movie’s unfortunate focus on the hipster contingent relegates the veteran actors to the outskirts of the prosaic plot. Kurt Russell, an underrated comedic talent, initially seemed like he was going to spark proceedings into a meaty joviality, but ultimately, was given so little to do (besides embodying the Ideal of the Superhero and waxing effusive over his son’s coming-of-age) that we were reduced to marveling at the magnificent acting prowess of Kelly Preston’s breasts.

Thus, whilst marveling at those Mounds Of Justice, did I come – er, of age.

Pretty predictable, cute story line, but I wasn't very impressed

I expected this movie to be a - of The Incredibles. What I got was another great original from Disney that reminds me of some of the great movies they used to make in the Genre of "Flubber", "The Strongest Man in the World", "The Shaggey Dog" and others we used to love to watch back when Sunday night was "The Wonderful World of Disney" night.

This movie was full of hilarious comedy, Drama, and packed with action and special effects. It was great to watch a film that the director/writers let the plot and action carry the day and left the gutter language out.

The film was great, I would recommend it to families of any age and believe you will come out of the theatre having had a great time! My 9yr. old can't wait till this comes out on DVD(Nov. 29, '05!)