Sky High movie review

Spoiler-free review for the top portion, while some more spoilery-comments below*...

For YEARS I have wanted to see Sky High and, thankfully, it was worth the wait. I had grown a bit skeptical due to the relatively low IMDb rating (currently at 6.2, the equivalent of "fun-but-flawed" leaning more towards flawed), but it turns out this is closer to the live action Josie and the Pussycats movie (itself a rather delicious satire of both pop culture and consumerism, among others) where people may just not have been in on the joke.

Suffice to say, Sky High is pure camp fun that almost perfectly blends superheroes and teenage Disney (Channel) sensibilities, complete with elements of coming-of-age, family dynamics, comedy, action and the right amount of commentary on both class and gender power dynamics. There's even some brilliant material on ageism. It touches on lots of topics, yet handles each of them deftly to the point of leaving very few, if any, dangling threads. I would have loved to see more material on certain elements, but I view it more as a positive of wanting more of the world, rather than a critique.

I fully am of the mind that, had Disney continued the trend of Sky High and Enchanted, they could have had a nice renaissance of building tongue-in-cheek worlds to appeal to slightly older audiences, instead of spending BILLIONS on acquiring Marvel (though it's netted well for them).

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED if you're looking for a fun, campy Saturday afternoon (or any time) movie. In a way, it's a genuine classic, if not cult classic.

*Some more SPOILERY comments below.....

Things I liked:

• Kurt Russell may have been perfect in this, with Kelly Preston doing an admirable job, as well
• Mary Elizabeth Winstead - Pretty much everything about her in this was fantastic: the casting, the music that plays when Will Stronghold (Michael Angarano) sees her, her general villainous storyline ESPECIALLY her backstory
• Bruce Campbell, 'nuff said
• The cheesy dynamic between Magenta and Zach, complete with the "happy ending" 
• Every contrived plot moment to allow the "sidekicks" to use their powers
• Steven Strait going from villain to thoughtful stranger-turned-friend
• All the many nods and Easter Eggs to comics/superheroes
• Michael Giacchino's cheesy musical score - it's not really memorable, but works perfectly 

Things that could have been better or are odd, but rolling with anyway:

• Will Stronghold - Angarano was serviceable, but his storyline was rather par for the course. It was both interesting and nice that he developed one of his powers part way through, particularly to advance the story, though there could have been more emotional weight to the idea of never gaining powers building to a reveal at the end (but would have been a different story). As well, while some of the relationship elements were fun, others were a tad too cheesy; or at least, the ending of him and Layla kissing at the end (remember: they're 14ish years old)
• The dynamic between Royal Pain and her "dad" was very strange/didn't make much sense

Despite any flaws, Sky High was such a fun time that I wish we had more of the world and voice. Although apparently as of November 2016 a sequel may be in the works!