If there’s a concept that a lot of people are usually on board for, its superheros. They are the top figures of pop culture and with Marvel and Dc producing films that have brought the genre back into the public eye, superheros are more popular than ever. What’s more fun than a standard superhero movie, however, is an unconventional one that takes advantage of the familiarized tropes and flips them on their head to create something unique, clever, and most importantly, funny. There’s been plenty of examples that have mocked the traditional clichés of superheros from books, to TV shows, to films, but one that actually hosted a lot of potential was superheros in high school. While high school-based movies are often pretty formulaic and dumb, involving super-powered teenagers with relatable teen issues was a recipe for success, resulting in the 2005 Disney film, Sky High. Set in a universe where superheros are well-known and accepted, Will Stronghold (played by Michael Angarano) is the son of two of the strongest heroes; The Commander and Jetstream (played by Kurt Russell and Kelly Preston). This doesn’t prove to be as positive as it should be as he doesn’t seem to have any powers, a problem that will become a lot more troublesome now that he is going to Sky High, where he will be deemed either a hero or a sidekick. While he along with all of his other friends are deemed sidekicks, Will’s powers slowly start to come out over the course of the year, turning him into a hero and distancing himself from his real friends. But when an evil mastermind takes over the school and threatens to destroy all heroes, its up to the sidekicks to save Sky High and super-herodom as a whole. Sky High is just goofy crazy fun; taking what should be pretty out-dated and lazy and making something memorable and simply charming out of it. With a great cast, fun effects, a decent handling of a familiar story, and enough fun jokes that make it an enjoyable watch.

The initial concept of a superhero school already opens up a lot of potential for some creative visuals and overly fun extremes of familiar teenage tropes.  Having the actual school be a gigantic piece of mass hovering in the sky is already bringing this idea to full heights, but its also an opportunity to mix in real-life drama with something that is often deemed totally fictional. The producers of the film were also responsible for working on Kim Possible, a Disney animated show about a teenage girl spy in high school and it has an incredibly similar feel to this movie. One of the best things about it was its ability to write its characters as role models, but flawed and realistic; they still acted like normal teenagers and it led to moments that allowed children watching to connect with them on a closer level. This is pretty similar in that regard; the characters talk like real people and act like real people, it is the environment that is fictional and over-the-top which balances out really well. Because of this, even though the actual plot is essentially a popularity-based story, it’s not as painful as usual because the characters aren’t so one-dimensionally stupid. That along with the superhero flair and creative visuals and action scenes distract from a pretty generic plot. The concept of basing the ‘’Hero/Sidekick’’ formula as a labelling tactic for schools to place children in groups dependant on their abilities isn’t the most complex metaphor for controlled school curriculums, but its still an effective choice for the movie and is a nice touch that adds to the film’s overall pace and mood. Overall, it’s a well-paced movie that never feels too pandering and dated, even though the tone feels like it could very easily become Power Rangers level of stupid.

All the characters have the benefit of being part of a movie where superheros exist as it elevates their chances of not being typical teenage archetypes and actually being more tolerable to watch. It does not shy away from letting these kids act like normal teenager and talk like normal teenagers would, it helps to keep the kids entertained while not feel like it’s talking down to any audience members even if every one of them is dressed like their in a Nickelodeon show. The main characters are fine enough to watch, the villain is appropriately over the top and all the teachers are given uniquely funny moments as well. While some of the side characters could have used a lot more screen-time and dialogue (mainly the other three in the main group), it doesn’t hurt anything in the film and they do contribute for the film’s climax. The cast for the movie is surprisingly pretty good and feels like it is trying to balance between picking fresh newcomers for a new touch of talent and old legends that fit wonderfully into this movie. Lesser known names like Danielle Panabaker, Michael Angarano and Steven Strait all do pretty good jobs, more popular names like Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Cloris Leachman, Dave Foley, Kevin McDonald and Kevin Heffernan add a nice touch of over-the-topness, and the top stars are ones that are perfect for this environment and set-up. Any movie with Kurt Russell, Linda Carter, Bruce Campbell, and Patrick Warburton isn’t only going to be have their material go to all these top stars that always do great, but it will utilise them to their fullest.

The effects are by no means fantastic looking and they do show their 2000s age, but for this kind of set-up with this style of humor and target audience, it doesn’t need to be anymore than what it gives and it still leads to some fun visuals. The location of sky high is great to look at, all the superpowers are pretty cool to see in action, and the fight aren’t as packed with effects as would be expected, with a few of them even utilising some fun string-work and actually staged fights. The writing for the film thankfully doesn’t too painful or stupid for either kids or adults, it usually hits just that right balance so neither side feels talked down too. Weirdly enough though, its usually the physical and running jokes that get the best reactions and feel the best thought out. Stuff like two frozen guys staying stuck in ice throughout the entire movie after a simple opening joke gets a little chuckle and others of its type leaves the movie with just that right amount of charm. Unfortunately, while the concept in question feels very timeless, the movie is hit with a lot of 2000s that aren’t as painful as other instances but stuff like a painfully forced soundtrack feels like an needless add-on that only hurts the movie.

Sky High isn’t a movie that was the best received upon release and isn’t one that’s talked about often. Most likely due to the time of its release and the atmosphere it appears to give off, it doesn’t look like anything that special and even looks kinda stupid. The best part about this movie is that they’re right. Sky High is a stupid movie, just charmingly so. It gets across everything it wants to achieve and never strives to be anything other than a simple fun comedy about superheroes in high school. Its got a lot of good actors, it has some good jokes, the story is handled fairly well for such a standard narrative, the effects are fine for the situation and even if it has dated and its not flawless, its just a fun goofy waste of time that can occupy your kids easily. Nothing that amazing and nowhere near one of Disney’s finest, but when the story feels like it could so easily turn into Power Rangers, we should be grateful we got what we did. Check it out and see for yourself if Sky High is the place for you.