Sky High - Diese Highschool hebt ab! (Sky High)
U.S.A. 2005

Opening 6 Oct 2005

Directed by: Mike Mitchell
Writing credits: Paul Hernandez, Robert Schooley, Mark McCorkle
Principal actors: Michael Angarano, Kurt Russell, Kelly Preston, Danielle Panabaker, Christopher Wynne

Imagine having to face your first day of high school, not just as a regular kid, but as the only child of famous superheroes. That is the out-of-this-world premise of Sky High, a new Disney film from director Mike Mitchell (Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo). Will Stronghold (Michael Angarano) is the most famous new kid at superhero high school Sky High because of his parents, legendary crime fighters The Commander (Kurt Russell) and Jetstream (Kelly Preston). But things don’t start out well for Will: he fails the first day’s Power Placement test and is relegated to Sidekick rather than Hero – all because he apparently doesn’t have any super powers, much to his parents’ disappointment. But Will soon learns that sidekicks can be heroes in disguise.

Sky High looks and feels like a throwback Disney family film: bright colors, family-friendly storylines, and life lessons learned. Director Mitchell and producer Andrew Gunn grew up on John Hughes films of the 80s and wanted to make Sky High like “The Breakfast Club with capes.” They succeed to a certain extent, but with a product like that, who is their target audience? Thirty-somethings who grew up in the 80s aren’t going to go see a teen movie today, even if the soundtrack is filled with remakes of classic 80s songs, yet today’s teenagers would likely find this film to be decidedly un-hip. Perhaps very young teens would like the spectacle and learn something from the good-intentioned but very obvious messages, but for everyone else, Sky High will probably rank low on the “must-see” scale. (Kirsten Greco)