BB DVD Review: Sky High

The Plot and Stuff - Super person in the making Will Stronghold heads to hero high and tries to live up to the legacy of his father The Commander (Kurt Russell). Bullies, chicks, crazy teachers and other assorted cliches stand in his way, will he make it to the prom on time? Well... yes.


Dispassionate reviewer mode definitely off for this one. Not so much a pleasant surprise as an outright shockaroonie, Sky High may will be the best movie this chump has seen all year. Now admittedly it's only February and said chump has been a little lax in his movie watching (only seen King Kong, Stealth, The Devil's Rejects and Four Brothers thusfar if you don't count watching Commando and Roadhouse for the nine thousandth time each) but it's still not a bad qualifier.

The 13 year old still alive and well inside of me loved, loved, loved this movie - though many would probably tell you he's not so much inside as behind the wheel and speeding recklessly. It is exactly the kind of wish fulfilling malarkey he/me would eat up with a soup spoon and come back for seconds. But how can a done-for-the-kids Disney movie score so high with a discerning reviewer such as yourself I hear you (all three of you) cry? Well. First of all the casting is excellent. Mr Jack Burton himself, Kurt Russell, is winningly earnest and goofy as Will's over-achieving father The Commander while the mighty Bruce Campbell is at his mugging best as the superhero PE teacher by way of Full Metal Jacket drill instructor Sonic Boom. As if that wasn't enough - and lord knows it is for this Evil Dead In Little China loving maniac - you also get Wonder Woman herself Linda Carter as the headmistress, Broken Lizard regular Kevin Heffernan as The Bus Driver and Mrs John Travolta herself Kelly Preston as Will's superhero mother Jetsream. That's not a bad selection for the price of your DVD rental (if you didn't download this for free you naughty naughty type - your funding terrorism, organized crime and baby eating don't you know?). The cast is helped by a savvy script that swaps the jocks v geeks dynamic of traditional scholastic fare for Superheroes v Sidekicks and manages the neat trick of being down with the kids rather than talking down to them. However, the main reason for Sky High's success it's spot on depiction of superheroics. As was the case with The Incredibles, the people behind the movie just flat out get what we love about comic book capes and put it right up there on the screen. It's always a thrill as a comic book fan when you see superpowers in live action and they match or supersede your expectations and you get plenty of that with this bad boy.

All of this is not to say that the movie is perfect. Comic book trimmings aside, this has the same plodding plot we've seen in just about every high school set flick ever made. You know the one, a vague variation on - new kid comes to school, new kid struggles to fit in and gets bullied/abused/looked down on by popular types, new kid bonds with other outsiders, new kid discovers a talent that brings popularity and all it's trappings, new kid's success goes to their head and they neglect the loveable outsiders until some last-minute soul searching forces them to see the error of their ways in time for a Prom-based finale. However, thanks to its charm and the talent and attention to detail of those involved, Sky High manages to outflank it's cliches and canter into the 'comic book movies that are actually good' winner's enclosure. Excelsior!