‘SKY HIGH’

Please feel free to comment on my review.

Welcome to Sky High

‘Sky High’ is an amazing superhero comedy family film from Disney! 🙂

I love ‘Sky High’! I wasn’t expecting to enjoy this after watching it at the cinemas. It’s one of my favourite movies and is certainly a charming, delightful film on the superhero genre. The film stars Michael Angarano, Kurt Russell, Kelly Preston, Danielle Panabaker and Mary Elizabeth Winstead.

The film ‘Sky High’ is about a young boy named Will Stronghold, who, apparently, is the son of two world-famous superheroes called the Commander and Jestream. Wanting to follow in his family’s footsteps, Will attends the school Sky High – academy for the gifted, suspended ‘high’ up in the ‘sky’. 😆

But Will has a problem. He doesn’t have any super powers of his own. So, he’s allocated to the ‘sidekick’ placement of the school (or as politely termed, ‘Hero Support’) as opposed to the ‘hero’ placement. Can Will Stronghold be able to prove he’s more than a sidekick and become a real hero?

This film has a mix of Harry Potter and X-Men in it. It’s a high school film about kids who are training to be superheroes. At first glance, the film’s colourful and hard to take seriously. But this comedy film deals with character drama and it’s easy to relate to about what goes on at high school.

I’ve had experiences of being bullied, having scary teachers and going through the hormones and emotions of first crushes on girls at high school. I could relate to Will Stronghold. Even though I didn’t get super powers or have amazing adventures, the school situation is really easy to relate to.

Michael Angarano stars as Will Stronghold, the 14-year old son and heir of the Commander and Jetstream. I really liked Michael’s performance as Will, since he delivers a believable and easy-to-relate-to interpretation of this young boy who wants to become a superhero when he’s growing up.

Will Stronghold has certain elements of Peter Parker from ‘Spider-Man’, as he’s put under a lot of pressure and goes through what life is like at high school in the ‘sidekick’ section. When Will does have his super powers, he learns the true meaning of being a hero and what his friends mean to him.

Kurt Russell stars as Steve Stronghold/the Commander, Will’s dad. Kurt is well-known for big action movies. This is the first time I’ve seen Kurt in this superhero movie. I really enjoyed his performance as the Commander, bringing such a heroic interpretation that blends comedy in it at the same time.

The Commander wears a blue and red superhero suit and has superhuman strength. As Steve Stronghold, he and his wife Josie are estate agents. He wants Will to be a superhero just like him and is pleased that he’s going to Sky High. Steve is initially unaware that Will doesn’t have any powers of his own

Kelly Preston stars as Josie Stronghold/Jetstream, Will’s mom. I really like Kelly, who’s lovely in this movie. Jetstream can fly across various distances at supersonic speed and is good in hand-to-hand combat. As Josie Stronghold, she’s an estate agent, like her husband, and she wants the best of Will.

Josie isn’t desperate for Will to have his super powers like his Dad is. I liked it when Josie is motherly towards Will and found that scene funny where she and Steve are discussing Will not having powers. I liked that scene between Josie and Will where she encourages him to learn from his mistakes in life.

Danielle Panabaker stars as Layla, Will’s best friend at school. I enjoyed seeing Danielle as Layla in this movie. Layla is a sweet, red-haired girl who’s been best friends with Will for a long time. She goes to Sky High with him, as she has the power to control plant life and happens to be a vegetarian.

Deep down, Layla has had a crush on Will since they were kids. But he’s barely noticed her. Layla is the one who encourages Will to tell his Dad and comforts him when he’s down about not having any powers. Layla chooses to be a ‘sidekick’, due to her pacifist beliefs and dislike for the school system.

Mary Elizabeth Winstead stars as Gwen Grayson, a potential love interest for Will at Sky High. I love seeing Mary as Gwen in this and she’s gone on to be a sterling success from doing ‘Sky High’. Gwen is a senior at Sky High school and she’s a technopath, since she can control technology with her mind.

Will has a crush on Gwen when he first meets her and she gets to be his personal tutor when he joins the ‘hero’ class. Although Gwen is pretty-looking, she also has a dark side to her character and she schemes standing in-between Will and his ‘sidekick’ friends as well as his relationship with Layla.

Steve Strait stars as Warren Peace, Will’s potential arch-enemy at Sky High. This happens to be Steve’s first movie before he went on into a rock-singing career. Steve is brilliant as Warren Peace, who is the son of Baron Battle, a supervillain that Will’s father, the Commander, had put in prison.

Warren Peace considers Will as his enemy because of his father in jail. He has the power of pyrokinesis, as he can throw fire balls from his hands. Although a seemingly dark character at first, he eventually gets to be likeable and he also becomes friends with Will and Layla by the film’s climax.

Will has three other friends who become ‘sidekicks’ at Sky High. They’re Nicholas Braun as Zach, who has the ability to make his body glow in the dark, Dee Jay Daniels as Ethan, who has the ability to turn into a pool of orange slime, and Kelly Vitz as Majenta, who can shape-shift into a guinea pig.

The teachers at Sky High are as follows. There’s Dave Foley as Mr. Boy/All-American Boy, Kevin McDonald as Professor Medula, Bruce Campbell (who I’ve seen in the original ‘Spider-Man’ trilogy) as Coach Boomer and Lynda Carter (well known for playing ‘Wonder Woman’ in the 1970s) as Principal Powers.

The bullies at Sky High are as follows. There’s Jake Sandvig as Lash and Will Harris as Speed. These two are like Bulk and Skull characters from ‘Power Rangers’ with Lash being Skull and Speed being Bulk. There’s also Malika and Khadijah Haqq as Penny, a cheerleader at Sky High who hates sidekicks.

There’s Kevin Heffernan as Ron Wilson, Bus Driver. Ron is the school bus driver that takes the kids to Sky High. He doesn’t drive any ordinary bus though. Ron drives a super-bus that can take off and fly into the sky, which gets the kids to Sky High. Ron is a kind, good-hearted fellow that warms to Will.

Cloris Leachman also makes an appearance in ‘Sky High’ (who I’ve seen in ‘The Mary Tyler Moore Show’) as Nurse Spex. She’s a kind, elderly and eccentric lady who looks after Will when he’s injured during Power Placement by Coach Boomer. She has X-ray vision when she examines Will’s chest.

The movie is reasonably well-directed by Mike Mitchell and produced by Andrew Gunn. I really enjoyed the action scenes, such as the fight scenes in the cafeteria between Will Stronghold and Warren Peace or the ‘Save the Citizen’ sequence in the gym. The stunt work is exceptionally good.

The set designs are pretty good and I liked the location used in the movie of Sky High. The exterior shots of Sky High were actually filmed at Oviatt Library at California State University in Northridge. Seeing the school on the outside and the inside feels sunny and it suits appropriately for a kid’s film.

The costume design is interesting. Will wears colours of blue, red and white in the clothes he wears, whilst Layla wears green, Gwen wears pink, Warren wears black, Zach wears yellow, Ethan wears orange, Majenta wears purple, etc. There’s an almost ‘Power Rangers’ feel to the costume design.

The visual effects are equally interesting. They’re not as great as the special effects in superhero movies we have today such as the ‘Spider-Man’ films and the ‘Marvel Cinematic Universe’ films. The CGI effects are sometimes dodgy and cheap-looking, especially when Will’s punching a hole in the floor of the gym.

I enjoyed this kid’s superhero movie from Disney and couldn’t wait to get the DVD after watching it. I hoped there would be a sequel of ‘Sky High’ and that I would get to go and see it. Sadly, there’s been no ‘Sky High 2’ from Disney yet. I hope there will be a sequel where Will Stronghold fights Ticranium and Exo’s Bug Bot army. 😀

The DVD bonus features are as follows. There’s an ‘Alternative Opening’ to the ‘Sky High’ movie that could be seen as a prologue, some ‘Super Bloopers’ of the movie and ‘Music & More’, which contains a music video of Bowling for Soup’s ‘I’ll Melt With You’ song, which was sung at the end of the movie. There’s also the ‘Backstage Disney’ section, which contains two behind-the-scenes featurettes. There’s ‘Welcome to Sky High’, which is a general behind-the-scenes look of the movie featuring interviews with cast and crew. And there’s ‘Breaking Down Walls: The Stunts of Sky High’ featurette. There are also some Easter Eggs to carefully look out for on the ‘Sky High’ DVD. I’m not sure I’ve found all of them yet. There are some ‘Sneak Peaks’ of some Disney films shown at the beginning as well as some extra ones via the DVD menu option. I like some of the DVD menus, including the main menu.

The movie has been released on Blu-ray lately, which I’m pleased about. I hope ‘Sky High’ gets revisited and has an anniversary special edition DVD, as it deserves more focus and a look back on the making of the movie in terms of story, characters and some proper cast and crew interviews.

‘Sky High’ is a great children’s superhero film and one I could easily relate to, recollecting my high school days when I was young. I loved watching the adventures of Will Stronghold and his friends battling against evil. I must have seen this movie about umpteen times and never have I found it boring.

This movie was chosen to be shown on one day over Christmas Eve in 2008 on BBC One. I remember enjoying watching ‘Sky High’ that Christmas Eve when it was shown. I highly recommend this film to get you in a good-feel mood. If you love superheroes like I do, then you’re bound to enjoy this film!

‘Sky High’ rating – 10/10

---

‘SKY HIGH’ – THE JUNIOR NOVELIZATION

Please feel free to comment on my review.

Brian, Brawn and Beyond in Print

I wish there was a more in-depth novelization of this Disney superhero movie. 😦

It’s amazing what 19 years will do for a movie. At the time of this review, 2025 will mark the 20th anniversary of ‘Sky High’ since its release in 2005. It’s a Disney film that deserves more praise than it’s given, especially since it’s considered a ‘cult classic’ over the years.

‘Sky High’ is a film I regard highly. When my Dad wanted to see this film again one Sunday evening, I happily obliged. My parents and I saw the film on Disney+ and it’s just as good as I remember it being when I saw it twice at the cinema in October 2005. Oh, happy days!

It’s a shame this film doesn’t get talked a lot about nowadays, as whilst it can be quite cheesy and goofy in places, it’s a film that works well as a superhero film when presenting it in a high school scenario and in a relatable way concerning Will Stronghold’s character.

It’s the story of a young man trying to aspire to be like his parents who are world-famous superheroes and balance that with his interactions with his friends that are labelled sidekicks instead of heroes. The film could have been played for laughs and been so silly.

Yet it has a charm that resonates throughout the film to the point where you truly care with the struggles Will has in trying to regain his friendships, especially with his best friends who becomes his true love. I easily felt emotionally invested with seeing this film.

I’m surprised that a follow-up film never got made. There have been attempts over the years to do follow-ups on ‘Sky High’, including a sequel film called ‘Save U’ where our heroes at a superhero university. Plus, a ‘Sky High’ TV show had once been considered. 😐

The film, whilst rated highly by critics, didn’t do so well at the box office at the time it was released in 2005. There also wasn’t much ‘Sky High’ merchandise available then. I mean, there weren’t any toys or action figures that promoted the film, which could have helped.

There was the ‘Sky High’ music soundtrack, which I’ve enjoyed listening to on CD, and the movie was eventually released on DVD in the UK in 2006. And there was the junior novelization of ‘Sky High’, which I purchased in 2007 and revisited lately in October 2024.

I’ve vague memories of being keen to check out the ‘Sky High’ junior novelization when I purchased from Amazon back in 2007. I don’t recall it being as good as the novelizations of the original ‘Spider-Man’ film trilogy by Peter David, but I’m certain I enjoyed the book.

Of course, that was a long time ago and it was only fair that I revisit the junior novelization, especially after revisiting the actual film on Disney+. I enjoyed the junior novelization during my weekend for the ‘Exeter Comic Con and Gaming Festival’ in October 2024. 🙂

With that said, the ‘Sky High’ junior novelization is not very good. This shouldn’t be a surprise considering it’s a novelization more for kids than grown-ups, but what frustrates me about the novelization is that it omits certain scenes from the movie that I really enjoyed seeing.

Even when Terrance Dicks novelized ‘Doctor Who’ stories into prose for the Target novelization range, he managed to keep about every scene that featured in a story in book form. I’m annoyed ‘Sky High’ doesn’t include exactly every scene featured in the movie. 😦

The author of the junior novelization is James Thomas, who adapted the movie’s screenplay by Paul Hernandez, Bob Schooley and Mark McCorkle. I don’t know much about James Thomas, nor have I come across any other novelization or book he’s written.

From reading the novelization, I get the impression he was working from a draft script compared to what’s in the movie itself. It might explain why certain scenes are omitted in the novelization, as perhaps the omitted scenes were only in the actual final cut of the film.

Even if that were the case, the omitted scenes not featured in the junior novelization hurt it very badly, especially when you get to the end, which I’ll talk about eventually, At least there are eight pages of full-colour photos from the film for people to enjoy in the book. 🙂

I’m reminded of when I also read the novelization for ‘Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams’ a couple of years before checking out the ‘Sky High’ novelization. I’ve not read that novelization in a very long time, but I don’t recall being particularly impressed by it. 😦

The ‘Sky High’ story is divided into 12 chapters with a prologue at the beginning. The prologue is interesting, as it includes an alternative opening scene that wasn’t featured in the final cut of the film, but it’s included as a bonus feature on the ‘Sky High’ DVD release, which I’ve seen.

Essentially, the alternative opening depicts the Commander and All-American Boy being held captive by Royal Pain and Stitches before they’re rescued by Jetstream. The scene is sort-of included as a flashback when Steve relates about it to Will in the Secret Sanctum.

Unfortunately, the prologue scene is ruined when it doesn’t include every piece of dialogue featured in the alternative opening, including dialogue said by All-American Boy. Trust me, I’ve revisited the alternative opening recently to know what dialogue is missing.

A continuity error is made in the novelization, I think. You see, the prologue’s title is FIFTEEN YEARS AGO… Meaning at the time of the novelization’s publication, which is 2005, the alternative opening with the Commander and Jetstream takes place in 1990. 😐

Yet, in the actual alternative opening, it states clearly at the beginning of the scene that it takes place in MAXVILLE METROPOLIS, 1985. So, would that mean the actual ‘Sky High’ story takes place in 2000, not 2005? It’s very easy to get confused when thinking about it.

Wouldn’t it have made sense for the prologue to say TWENTY YEARS AGO… instead of FIFTEEN YEARS AGO…?  Steve and Josie couldn’t have had Will within the space of one year before he became fifteen years old in 2000 or 2005, depending on how you look at it.

Like I said, there are elements of the ‘Sky High’ junior novelization that frustrate me in terms of omitted scenes not featured. This includes the ‘Will and Layla on a rooftop’ scene when he shares that his dad showed him the Secret Sanctum following their first day at school.

Some of the Ron Wilson, Bus Driver scenes are omitted in the book. This includes when Will helps to get Ron’s bus driver’s cap from Lash and Speed at the school, when Will gets Ron to drive him to Sky High on Homecoming night, and when Ron knocks out Stitches. 😀

Certain additions are included in the junior novelization, which I quite liked. This includes Principal Powers giving a history of how Sky High was formed, including that it was founded in 1951 to deal with ‘the postwar hero baby boom’, which I found quite intriguing.

It’s little details like that that help to enhance the story more, even for a little bit. It also helps to form a basis on how ‘Sky High’ can continue and have a life of its own beyond one movie. Maybe I should do my own ‘Sky High’ spin-off series on my blog someday. 🙂

There’s also additional dialogue featured between Layla and Warren at the Homecoming Dance when he tells her about seeing Will at the Paper Lantern and she replies that she doesn’t care what Will thinks anymore. This is all before Warren invites Layla for a dance.

In a sense, I’m glad that dialogue wasn’t included in the final cut of the movie, as it wouldn’t have been right for Layla’s character to say and it sounds like it came from a first draft script. But I appreciate it adding perhaps another layer to Layla’s feelings for Will. 🙂

A frustration I have with the novelization is how it tries to speed things along when you’re reading the story. This isn’t just in the quieter character-driven scenes but also in the action sequences. This includes the Save the Citizen scene and the Homecoming climax.

If there was a full-on in-depth ‘Sky High’ novelization available that matched the style of Peter David’s writing, I’m sure the action scenes would have been given more time for readers to delve into and appreciate. At least, readers wouldn’t rush through this book. 😐

The scene between Will and Warren at the Paper Lantern when talking about Layla is handled differently in the book compared to the movie. I prefer the movie version, especially since the book version cuts off Will and Warren’s conversation rather abruptly.

There’s nothing said by Will that he wouldn’t surprised if any of his friends wouldn’t speak to him again following his distancing from them once been made a hero instead of a sidekick. 😦 Warren doesn’t say, “Yeah, you must have been a real jerk” in the book either.

I know these sound like really nitpicky points when identifying what’s missing in the book regarding how the movie is adapted into prose. But since I’ve seen ‘Sky High’ umpteen times and know what to expect concerning the dialogue, it does make the book feel very inferior.

In the scene where Will discovers that Gwen Grayson is actually Sue Tenney and the Pacifier is gone from the Secret Sanctum, there’s a scene missing between Will and his mother Josie, where she encourages him to learn from his mistakes regarding his friends.

It’s those types of scenes I wish were included in the actual novelization, as they enhance the characters we see in the actual movie. Without those scenes, you’re not as invested in the book concerning story and characters compared to when you’re watching the film.

I’m glad the Stitches “Uncle, Uncle, Uncle” dialogue is omitted in the junior novelization whenever he gets strangled by Royal Pain. I found that annoying when watching the film, and it’s for the best it’s not included. It would have made Stitches less intimidating and scary.

The thing that really hurts the book is of course the final chapter – Chapter 12. The book concludes with the scene of the Commander handing the Hero of the Year Award trophy to the sidekicks and he calls them ‘heroes’…and that’s it. The book finishes right there. 😮

There’s no the Commander telling Mr. Boy to ‘keep teaching’ the sidekicks ‘it’, no kiss on the cheek from Josie to Mr. Boy, no detention scene with Royal Pain and her associates and Principal Powers saying “I’m not Wonder Woman, you know”, and no final dance scene. 😦

There isn’t the kiss scene between Will and Layla where they’re flying outside the school at the end. And there isn’t the closing narration given to us by Will like in the movie itself. Then again, the opening narration by Will isn’t included in the novelization either, but still.

There’s no audiobook reading provided for the ‘Sky High’ junior novelization as far I’m aware and I’m not really in need of one. If there was a ‘Sky High’ novelization in the style of Peter David’s writing, then maybe I’d be interested in an audiobook reading for this story.

So, yes. The ‘Sky High’ junior novelization is unfortunately not very good. I’m glad I’ve revisited it recently to refresh my memory of why this novelization didn’t have such an impact on me. I’d planned to revisit the novelization in 2020 when we were in Covid times.

It’s just as well I held back for 2024 when I did, as I don’t think my enthusiasm for the junior novelization would be any different if I read it sooner rather than later. Perhaps one day, I’ll get a chance to do my own in-depth ‘Sky High’ novelization. It’d be very nice to do.

‘Sky High’ – The Junior Novelization rating – 3/10

---

Return to Disney