In Sky High, Commander Stronghold (Kurt Russell) lives incognito with his heroine wife (Kelly Preston) and son Will (Michael Angarano), who on his first day at the high school for superhero offspring has yet to acquire his own superpowers. Will ends up tagged as "hero support" and makes fast pals with a quartet of other sidekicks, including a surly alterna-girl whose limited shape-shifting abilities only allow her to morph into a guinea pig. His best friend since the sandbox days is crushin' on him like mad, but all Will can think about is his newfound archenemy, the fireball-tossing Warren Peace (Steven Strait), whose father was vanquished by Will's dad back in the day.
It's a spiffy set-up, but ultimately a dull and predictable one, despite some great turns by Russell and Cloris Leachman as the school nurse. There are a few moments of comic genius (in one, Commander Stronghold mulls over the idea of dropping Will in a vat of toxic waste to kick-start his latent powers), but for the most part Sky High plays like a well-budgeted parody of the old "Afterschool Specials," with superpowers filling in for puberty and cliquish teen rivalries giving way to happy endings all around. It sports a positive "be yourself" message, but really, there's very little that's super about it.
