Parents Television Council Reviews

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Sky High
By Caroline Schulenburg

Release Date: July 29, 2005
MPAA Rating: PG for action violence and some mild language.
Starring: Kurt Russell, Michael Angarano, Danielle Panabaker
Genre: Action Comedy

Action and Adventure are all part of every day life at Sky High, the one-of-a-kind high school where the children of superheroes go to fine-tune the gifts they've inherited until the day comes when they can take-up the family business of fighting crime.

Michael Angarano stars as Will Stronghold, the son of Steve Stronghold (Kurt Russell) and Josie Jetstream (Kelley Preston) who are the two most highly esteemed superheroes in the world. As Will begins high school he is faced with the harsh reality that unlike his iconic parents, he may not possess any superpowers himself thus relegating him to being "Hero Support," or a sidekick to someone who actually possesses a superpower. Now that Will is growing up, Steve Stronghold is eager to demonstrate to his son that he is ready to give him more responsibility and invites him to the "Secret Sanctum" where his parents keep souvenirs from their superhero exploits (bits of the occasional robot, freeze ray guns, etc…) as well as their costumes and computers. Steve tells Will that he is not to show the Sanctum to anybody, and he promises. Will is more anxious than ever when his father tells him how proud he is of him because as of yet, Steve is unaware that Will may not become a superhero one day.

Will begins his first day with his best childhood friend, Layla. At school they are greeted by bullies and eventually find themselves facing Coach Boomer, the archetypal gym teacher who calls each freshman up individually so that they may demonstrate their superpower and then be classified as either "Superhero" or "Hero Support." Layla, whose superpower is the ability to make plants grow is set against the system which she feels might be too limiting to people with quirkier powers. Will, who has no discernable power as of yet finds himself placed in "Hero Support" along with Layla, Magenta, a young woman who can turn herself into a guinea pig, Zach, who can make himself glow (if you close a window or shade your eyes and stand really close to him), and Ethan, who can melt himself into a puddle. Together, Will and his "Hero Support" friends face bullies such as Warren Peace, the wayward son of a mother who is a superhero, and a supervillain father who is serving prison time in solitary confinement (courtesy of Steve Stronghold), Speed, a boy who can run very, very, very fast, and his friend Lash, who can stretch himself in many different ways.

When Will ultimately confronts his number one rival, Warren Peace, at school, he ends up finding out that he possesses the "super-strength" that has made his father into a superhero. After the initial punishment he receives for nearly destroying the cafeteria at school in the conflict, Will feels closer to his father than ever before and finds himself identifying with the "Superhero" kids at school, rather than the "Hero Support" he initially befriended. Layla, who has come to find that her feelings for Will run deeper than friendship, feels betrayed. When the Homecoming Dance takes place, and Steve Stronghold and Josie Jetstream's arch nemesis, Royal Pain, attempts to destroy Sky High, the "Hero Support" put aside their differences and band together with Will to help save the day.

With Sky High Disney has done an excellent job of making a film that adolescents and pre-adolescents can identify with, and parents will enjoy. Like most kids in middle and high school, the kids at Sky High cope with peer pressure, bullies, and are in the process of identifying their own unique talents and aspirations. Like most families, Will and his parents occasionally struggle to understand one another, but are endlessly loyal and supportive of each other in the end. Together these elements of the reality of being a teenager and raising a teenager paired with the fun and adventure of an action-comedy make Sky High a great movie for pre-adolescents and adolescents.

Questionable content:

• Some intense action and scary villains might be upsetting to really young children

• The use of a ray gun that turns all of the young superheroes as well as Steve Stronghold and Josie Jetstream back into babies might be frightening to young children

• A scene where some boys shoot rays from their hands to touch the buttocks of a girl in a short skirt might be considered inappropriate even though the girl then turns around and freezes them.

• Some mild language is used such as the word "butt" as well as "idiot" and "shut up"

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