Tuesday, March 21, 2006
Sky High
Sky High is the newest film to tackle super-heroes, a topic that has become so common in film that it should soon be awarded its own genre. The characters are all original, so no ridiculously long running concepts have to be honored, but the film dives into comic book stereotypes with unusual candor.
Will Stronghold (Michael Angarano) dreads his first dead of high school, but not for the reasons most kids do. His parents are the Commander (Kurt Russell) and Jetstream (Kelly Preston), the world’s most famous super-heroes on an earth replete with meta-humans. Instead of one of the boring schools mere mortals attend, he’ll be going to Sky High, a flying fortress where all the super-heroes go.
The school’s selection and education process is one that would likely result in lawsuits, if it weren’t out of the legal jurisdiction of every court on earth. On the first day, the students are herded into a gym, where Bruce Campbell (or Sonic Boom, depending on how you choose to listen) demands a demonstration. Kids with useful powers such as flight or super strength get to be ‘heroes’, while those with less useful powers such as the ability to glow in the dark are discarded into the ‘hero support’ pile. The supporters are so disdained that Will had never even heard of his father’s sidekick, who ruefully notes "I suppose he doesn’t have time to sit around all day and look through scrapbooks that I made him." Will has yet to develop any powers, a shortcoming that will crush his father, who doesn’t know (let us hope Will never gets offered drugs).
Sky High makes good use of the material it has. I chuckled at a character named Warren Peace and liked how they covered nearly ever superhero power imaginable. Couldn’t more have been done, however? By the end, we are given the standard comic book plot, where Will saves the day, all the sidekicks get to use their nearly useless powers to prove their worth, and a PG rated kiss is exchanged.
With the exotic setting and dozens of possibilities posed by mixing teenagers imbued with godly powers, did the central problem need to be an attack by a goofy villain? I was much more interested in the rivalry between Will and a fire-wielding punk who’s fathers were arch enemies. What about learning not to abuse the astonishing gifts they have received? Unfortunately, the film skips most of this, more satisfied with the standard Disney plot.
It would be difficult, if not impossible, to avoid comparing Sky High to the animated The Incredibles. The latter sharply but respectfully satirizes comics while utilizing the material to make a visually dazzling family film with a good message. Sky High plays the comic cannon straight, in the process appealing to the same children that most of those dopey comics do, but leaving the adults with little more than gentle grins. Does the embrace of comic values make a great children’s flick? Yes, but will adults find themselves more than mildly entertained? Holy frijoles, Batman, no!
3 out of 5
Will Stronghold (Michael Angarano) dreads his first dead of high school, but not for the reasons most kids do. His parents are the Commander (Kurt Russell) and Jetstream (Kelly Preston), the world’s most famous super-heroes on an earth replete with meta-humans. Instead of one of the boring schools mere mortals attend, he’ll be going to Sky High, a flying fortress where all the super-heroes go.
The school’s selection and education process is one that would likely result in lawsuits, if it weren’t out of the legal jurisdiction of every court on earth. On the first day, the students are herded into a gym, where Bruce Campbell (or Sonic Boom, depending on how you choose to listen) demands a demonstration. Kids with useful powers such as flight or super strength get to be ‘heroes’, while those with less useful powers such as the ability to glow in the dark are discarded into the ‘hero support’ pile. The supporters are so disdained that Will had never even heard of his father’s sidekick, who ruefully notes "I suppose he doesn’t have time to sit around all day and look through scrapbooks that I made him." Will has yet to develop any powers, a shortcoming that will crush his father, who doesn’t know (let us hope Will never gets offered drugs).
Sky High makes good use of the material it has. I chuckled at a character named Warren Peace and liked how they covered nearly ever superhero power imaginable. Couldn’t more have been done, however? By the end, we are given the standard comic book plot, where Will saves the day, all the sidekicks get to use their nearly useless powers to prove their worth, and a PG rated kiss is exchanged.
With the exotic setting and dozens of possibilities posed by mixing teenagers imbued with godly powers, did the central problem need to be an attack by a goofy villain? I was much more interested in the rivalry between Will and a fire-wielding punk who’s fathers were arch enemies. What about learning not to abuse the astonishing gifts they have received? Unfortunately, the film skips most of this, more satisfied with the standard Disney plot.
It would be difficult, if not impossible, to avoid comparing Sky High to the animated The Incredibles. The latter sharply but respectfully satirizes comics while utilizing the material to make a visually dazzling family film with a good message. Sky High plays the comic cannon straight, in the process appealing to the same children that most of those dopey comics do, but leaving the adults with little more than gentle grins. Does the embrace of comic values make a great children’s flick? Yes, but will adults find themselves more than mildly entertained? Holy frijoles, Batman, no!
3 out of 5
# posted by James : 3:57 PM
