Movie Review by Neils Hesse
Starring: Kelly Preston, Lynda Carter, Michael Angarano, Danielle Panabaker
Director: Mike Mitchell
Will Stronghold (Michael Angarano) is an average teenager just about to start high school with two seemingly average parents Mr Stronghold (Kurt Russell) and Mrs Stronghold (Kelly Preston). But there is much more to the Strongholds than meets the eye. Mr Stronghold is actually the most revered super hero of all time, going by the name of The Commander and Mrs Stronghold is second only to him, going by the name of Jetstream!
As to be expected all super hero kids can’t just go to any ordinary school, instead they go to Sky High! The top secret school for children with super powers. Being the child of two legends much is expected of Will Stronghold but after failing to show any powers in his PE class to Coach Boomer formerly known as Sonic Boom (Bruce Campbell) he is sent to the “Sidekick” class or as they prefer to be known “Hero Support”!
Any super hero tale would not be complete without an archenemy and Will’s archenemy turns out to be Warren Peace (Steven Strait), the son of a super villain who Will’s dad put away to serve multiple life sentences. Will also finds himself falling for an amazingly pretty and very popular senior girl called Gwen (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) much to the dislike of his childhood friend Layla (Danielle Panabaker) who has actually always loved him herself but just hasn’t been able to bring herself to tell him.
Will’s feelings for Gwen lead him into making one very big mistake that puts the whole school and his parents in jeopardy. Consequently he must now fully discover his powers and work alongside his friends from the sidekick class and his apparent archenemy to save everyone from this evil threat!
Mike Mitchell directs this with panache. He has managed to make a very funny family movie that centers on the coming of age of a teenager, who initially feels that unless he is a certain way he won’t amount to anything, but then realizes and embraces the fact that as long as he is true to himself, his family and friends then it will all make sense.
Michael Angarano is very well cast as the anxious child of two legendary super heroes and with fantastic supporting acts from Lynda “Wonder Woman” Carter, Bruce “Ash” Campbell, Kelly Preston and Kurt Russell, plus a great cast of talented teenagers especially Steven Strait and Mary Elizabeth Winstead who particularly stand out, this film is quite simply an amazingly entertaining day out for the whole family!
