Sky High (2005)
February 24, 2012 Leave a comment
I can’t remember where I came across an article on this movie, but it definitely made Sky High sound cool and like I just missed out on it when it came out. I forgot it was a Disney family movie, and I found out there were also ideas of turning it into a TV series after the theatrical run. The TV series would of course run on the Disney Channel, home of such cloyingly terrible fare as “Hannah Montana” and “That’s SO Raven!” The last damning part is that it was directed by Mike Mitchell, a dude who has one of the worst looking IMDb profiles in regards to his movies. Seriously, the dude is terrrrrrrrrrible.
Basically the premise behind Sky High is that it’s Hogwarts for super hero offspring. That’s it. And there is potential in that idea, and you don’t even have to go to the other extreme by making it dark and gritty like today’s comic book movies. There’s a happy middle ground somewhere there, but this movie goes the Disney Channel route and – while there are certainly charming aspects to it – comes off as one step above “Sesame Street”.
There are fun performances from great character actors, namely Bruce Campbell, Jim Rash, Dave Foley and others. Kurt Russell looks the part of an All-American superhero, and his onscreen wife Kelly Preston, well, she certainly fills that costume out nicely. It was good to see Mary Elizabeth Winstead back when she was younger… er, I wish there were a less creepy way to phrase that sentence.
Anyways, maybe kids would like it more than adults, but the kids would miss out on how “totally rad” the inexplicable ’80s covers that comprise the soundtrack are. Seriously, they’re horrrrrrrrible.
2.5 / 5