Sky High 

Fourteen-year-old Will Stronghold (Michael Angarano - Almost Famous) has a lot to live up to. His parents are The Commander (Kurt Russell) and Jet Stream (Kelly Preston) - the two greatest superheroes ever. But his powers still haven't kicked in when he begins attending Sky High, where super powered teens are shaped into heroes, so he looks destined to suffer the ultimate superhero indignity - life as "hero support" (i.e. a sidekick).

When it was first announced, Sky High appeared to be a live-action cash in on the success of the CGI animated "family of superheroes" hit The Incredibles. But when the Sky High trailer arrived, the colourful and special effects-laden images on display showed at least a degree of effort had been put into the film.

Now the movie arrives, and it's an extremely pleasant surprise. Sky High is far more funny, engaging and enjoyable than it really has any right to be. What by all rights should've been a bland Spy Kids/Incredibles derivation is instead a surprising, lively and consistently chuckle-eliciting romp.

There's nothing particularly ground-breaking on display here, but the film has no pretensions about what it wants to achieve, and does so with more wit, verve and vitality than many of the films it gently spoofs. And it is supremely well cast.

Sky High makes good use of modern film audiences' increased familiarity with superhero conventions and splices in elements of some of the better teen comedies, lending the film an welcome sweetness.

Superheroes are an easy target for ridicule, and there is no shortage of spoofs in this area, but the humour in Sky High actually feels fresh.

The film gets decent mileage out of the gaining-super-powers-as-a-metaphor-for-puberty thing, but also ably taps into the potent wish fulfilment aspect of having such amazing abilities in high school. Ultimately however, it works best as a comedy, thanks primarily to pitch perfect casting across the board.

Every line delivered by legendary crowd pleaser Bruce Campbell (Evil Dead trilogy) as the gym teacher is gold, and other supporting characters are nimbly played by various members of the Broken Lizard and Kids In The Hall comedy troupes. Every supporting player - from the wannabe superhero school bus driver to The Commander's forlorn former sidekick - is given a chance to shine. It shows how much well cast supporting roles can boost a film.

Preston is competent, but Russell is spot on in his portrayal of an overly confident superhero struggling with certain aspects of fatherhood.

As the lead, Angarano is thankfully two or three steps to the left of your traditional teen comedy lead, and his circle of fellow sidekick "loser" friends all get their own personalities, performing at the high end of the teen actor spectrum. And they are impressively not outshone by their comedy veteran co-stars, generating more than their own fair share of laughs.

The film has plenty of gratuitous big special effects moments, and they're generally fun, but is says something that they don't overcome the film's character-based pleasures.

A film like Sky High is gravy for kids, who will lap it up, but it also offers no shortage of entertainment for the less cynical adults in the audience - at least those open to the idea of a film about a high school for superheroes. And it's an absolute blast for anyone who spent their days in the classroom wishing they had super powers.

I didn't. Honest.

Highly recommended.

Dominic Corry

Sky High opens nationwide on September 22nd.