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Last sumer I saw a science-fiction comedy called Sky High. This movie is a darling little
gem!
It takes place in Eath's future. The premise of Sky High is that [some people] in this
fantasy have super powers, usually only one power per person.
There is a special high school for such gifted kids. It's located way up in the clouds,
hence the name. At the beginning of his freshman year, each kid is evaluated for potential
as a hero (major talent) or hero-support (minor talent.) Some kids choose to be
super-villains instead of super heroes, setting the stage for conflict and comedy!
The plot hinges on an old rivalry between Royal Pain and the Commander, Steve Stronghold.
Royal Pain was a techno-villain, Steve Stonghold's arch-enemy and former student at Sky
High. Royal Pain was thought to be vanquished many years ago but is still lurking in the
background and has many henchmen in Sky High's student body: a stretchy bully named Lash,
his toady, Speed, and Clone, a girl who can make multiple copies of herself ( a whole
cheerleader squad.) They seek to exact vengence on the Commander by victimizing his son,
Will Stronghold. The most treacherous henchman of them all is Gwen Grayson, a techno-path
who can control technology with her mind, and president of the student body. She is such a
beauty she woos Will away from Layla, his life-long girlfriend and attempts to manipulate
him. Gwen is played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead, the most gorgeous girl I have ever seen!
Villain or not, you don't want to miss her!
There are many special effects, as you might expect. The first one has a giant robot
menacing a remote part of town. Two heroes are dispatched to combat the robot, the
Commander, who has super strength (but can't fly) and Jetstream, who can fly (but has no
strength.) She flies the Commander to the danger and releases him. He disables his foe
with one super punch and saves the day! This scene is so corny it reminds me of a badly
made Godzilla movie from the 50's. I had to laugh at it dispite myself. The rest of the
special effects are terrific in welcome contrast!
As in most comedies there are many gags. One particularly funny gag happens when Steve
Stronghold hears that Coach Boomer put Will into sidekick status at Sky High. He is so
furious he tries to call up the coach to give him a piece of his mind, but as he punches
the keys with his super-strong fingers, the phone rapidly crumbles to pieces! To remedy
the situation, Steve opens the drawer of the phone stand to reveal a dozen other phones to
choose from. Evidently this is a common occurrence at their household.
Another memorable gag was near the end of the movie. A female super-villain had
transformed nearly everyone at the Homecomming dance into babies and was planning to raise
them all to become villains like herself. She and her sidekick were confronted with the
task of getting all those babies into the bus for transport. They had a slick ski-lift
arrangement set up for conveying them in little chairs. But evidently she had never
watched kids a day in her life because she couldn't figure out how to get a baby into a
baby seat! Mighty super-villain mortified as she is reduced to reading the step-by-step
instructions!
Watch a Video Trailer of Sky High :
Incidentally, Mary Elizabeth Winstead is starring in another movie right now, Final
Destination: 3. This movie has been held over at the theaters for quite a while. Probably
because of her! Haven't seen the movie yet but I intend to buy the DVD or download it from
CinemaNow !
Cast & Bios
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