L'école fantastique

I saw "Sky High" at a preview screening tonight, and I must say I was pleasantly surprised! A lot of laughs for kids and grownups, a couple of good plot twists, and a nice message for the youngsters. Kurt Russell steals the show as an over-the-top super hero, who wants nothing more than for his son to follow in the family business. Kelly Preston looks amazing as his flying super hero wife. A great group of kids play the Sky High students, with cool effects to help them into their roles... and some nice parables about life in high school. I expected lots of eye rolling and lame super hero humor... but there was no lameness, no eye rolls, but plenty of good laughs and sweet moments. Parents, feel free to go with your kids to this one!

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.

This movie is fun. It doesn't take itself too seriously, and it's funny. I really don't know why there's such a low score for this one.

Sky High is the perfect blend of high school drama, superhero shenanigans, and early-2000s Disney charm. Watching this as a kid felt like a sneak peek into the coolest school ever-where your classmates can throw fireballs, lift cars, or... turn into a guinea pig.

The story follows Will Stronghold, the son of the world's greatest superheroes, who's dealing with the crushing pressure of living up to his parents' legacy. (Relatable much?) It's your classic coming-of-age tale but with flying buses and epic sidekick banter. And speaking of sidekicks, how can we forget Ethan, who melts into a puddle when stressed? Absolute legend.

The cast is a chef's kiss of nostalgia, with Kurt Russell hamming it up as the macho dad, and Danielle Panabaker as Layla, the plant-wielding queen of unspoken crushes. The plot might not be groundbreaking, but who cares when you've got a soundtrack full of fun rock covers and a third act with villains monologuing like it's their full-time job?

Watching Sky High on Disney Channel back in the day was a rite of passage. It's silly, heartwarming, and packed with enough superpowers to fuel endless childhood daydreams.

Rating 6 out of 10. A school where lunchroom fights involve laser vision? Sign me up. This movie made us believe that even sidekicks can save the day.

Sky High marks the return of Kurt Russell to the Disney Studios after over two decades. Back in the Seventies before we had Cable and Disney channel on same, Kurt Russell would have been the hero of just such a film. As it is Russell and Kelly Preston play a pair of superhero parents to Michael Angaramo.

And Angaramo is just a normal kid apparently, his superpowers just haven't kicked in yet. But kids like him if they turn into superheroes aren't just born that way. The powers are there, but they have to be taught their use and that's why Angaramo is ticketed for Sky High.

Superheroes to be go to this school up in the sky which apparently has avoided all radar and satellite detection, but given who goes there and runs it, that's understandable. But the kids go through the normal high school experience as filtered through the world of the Magic Kingdom. Teen age budding superheroes of both sexes have all the normal angst issues the rest of them do.

Angaramo has two girls after him, girl next door Danielle Panabaker and teaching assistant Mary Elizabeth Winstead. Since his powers don't kick in initially, Angaramo is assigned to the sidekicks class, but he actually bonds with them.

Sky High is a typical Disney film with overtones of Grease and Harry Potter combined. Such seasoned players as Lynda Carter as the Principal, Bruce Campbell as the coach, and Cloris Leachman as the school nurse seem to be having a good time with their parts as well as Russell and Preston.

I did like young Steven Strait as the brooding Brando/Dean like teen who is understudying Johnny Storm the Human Torch. That young man was really having some issues in the film.

For those who can't make Rydell High or Hogwarts, Sky High will give you the best of both those worlds.