(The Disneycember logo is shown, before showing clips from Sky High)
Doug (vo): A high school for superheroes. That is awesome. Kurt Russell as your father. That is awesome. Lynda Carter as your principal. That is awesome. Bruce Campbell as the gym teacher. This is fucking genius. So, why does nobody talk about Sky High? A genuinely funny comedy with a real original idea that, for some reason, nobody ever remembers, and I just don’t get it. I thought it was really amusing. It’s not one of the comedic greats, but it has a really fun idea and it takes every advantage that it can with it, and it makes really good jokes that the whole family can enjoy.
Story[]
Doug (vo): A boy has two parents who it turns out are superheroes, and they want him to follow in their footsteps. So they send him to a high school called Sky High, which is miles up in the air and in the clouds. That alone is pretty cool. But it turns out the boy and his friends might be a bit of a disappointment as their powers aren’t really that great. So they’re put into the sidekick part of the school. Yeah, there’s two divisions: heroes and sidekicks. And his parents, especially his father, are disappointed, but try to make the best of it. But later on, his true strength is discovered and it turns out, he really is a hero, and this creates sort of a divide between him and his friends. And to make things even better, an evil villain from the past, it turns out, is trying to sabotage the boy to try and get revenge on his parents. From here on in, it’s action, comedy, flying around, all that good superhero stuff.
Review[]
Doug (vo): I really like the angles and the cinematography in this. It really feels like you’re reading a comic book while looking at it, particularly with the lighting. The high schoolers in this don’t talk as much as high schoolers, but more like Simpsons characters. In fact, the whole thing kind of feels like a Simpsons episode, but in a good way. It’s kind of aware of the relationships in both schools and family, and kind of mocks and has fun with it.
Nurse Spex: Kids who get bit by radioactive insects, or fall into a vat of toxic waste, their powers usually show up the next day. Or...they die.
Doug (vo): There is a bit of a love triangle, but even that gets a few laughs, mostly because I enjoy these characters so much. Disney is usually so bad at writing teenage characters, but these guys are all really fun and very unique and have their own identities. It’s one of those comedies that just throws joke after joke after joke at you, and there’s some real good ones, particularly with the running jokes. For example, there’s sort of a throwaway gag here where these two boys are making fun of this girl and she freezes them. Okay, that’s funny enough. But then, later in the movie, out of nowhere, it cuts back to them, and it’s nighttime, and they’re still there. Every once in a while in the movie, they’ll just cut back to them still frozen, and you just can’t believe it. Did nobody ever do anything to help these two? They just left them there the whole time? That’s pretty funny. Sometimes, the film gets a little bit into the Disney teen romp and it kind of feels a bit like High School Musical, but it’s not really that bad. You kind of expect it in a Disney film and you know they have to do it, but I think it rolls out fine. I think my only problem is that the parents, particularly Kurt Russell, are a little too forgiving. At first, it’s really funny and a good running joke, but then, you really start to question their parenting. And I think he gets away with murder just one too many times.
Final thought[]
Doug (vo): But aside from that, I think this flick is a lot of fun. It’s a wonderful idea that’s child-friendly and has some great gags for both kids and adults alike. It’s not perfect, but it’s not meant to be. It’s supposed to be a fun little comedy adventure with some really creative ideas, and that’s exactly what it is. Don’t believe me? Check it out and take flight for yourself.
[One of the film's final scenes, showing Will and Elizabeth kissing while floating in the sky, is shown]