by Adam Riske
• Best Scene/Moment: Any scene with Kurt Russell. He’s always great but he’s especially great in Sky High.
• Best Song: The cover of Tears for Fears’s “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” by Christian Burns.
• Director Grade: Sky High was directed by Mike Mitchell.
Great Movies: N/A
Good Movies: Sky High
OK Movies: Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo
Bad Movies: Surviving Christmas, The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part
Unseen By Me: Shrek Forever After, Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water, Trolls, Kung Fu Panda 4
Overall Grade: C
• Double It with This 2005 Movie: Herbie: Fully Loaded
• Year 2005 Movies to Trailer Before Them: The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Ice Princess, The Pacifier
• Never Talk to Strangers or Sky High? Sky High
• Mall Movie? I’ll say borderline no. It’s usually 50/50 with Disney Live Action movies if they’re mall movie material, but Sky High feels like something they had expectations for which would mean it wouldn’t start out at the mall unlike something they’re dumping.
• Only in 2005: Testing out if Michael Angarano could be a thing. Too bad Shia LaBeouf was already out there to fill that space.
• Scene Stealer (tie): Bruce Campbell and Mary Elizabeth Winstead.
• I Miss: Kelly Preston.
• I Don’t Miss: The glut of young adult savior movies that came out on the coattails of the Harry Potter franchise.
• 2005 Crush (tie): Kelly Preston and Mary Elizabeth Winstead.
• 2025 Crush (tie): Lynda Carter and Mary Elizabeth Winstead.
• What I Thought in 2005: I remember being slightly embarrassed going to see Sky High alone in theaters because I was in my early twenties and I was there mainly because of Bruce Campbell having a small role. I walked away thinking the movie was cute and better than it needed to be.
• What I Think in 2025: I feel similar now to what I did back in 2005 about Sky High, which is a testament to the quality of the movie because I’m so done with both YA movies and superhero films at this point. The young cast is strong (especially Winstead, who’s giving one of her best performances) and the movie’s zippy fun. This is exactly why I can’t cancel my Disney Plus subscription -- because every once in a while, I’ll want to revisit something like Sky High or Miracle or Holes and I’m reminded how well-done Disney live-action movies usually were back in the late '80s to mid-2000s.
• Double It with This 2005 Movie: Herbie: Fully Loaded
• Year 2005 Movies to Trailer Before Them: The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Ice Princess, The Pacifier
• Mall Movie? I’ll say borderline no. It’s usually 50/50 with Disney Live Action movies if they’re mall movie material, but Sky High feels like something they had expectations for which would mean it wouldn’t start out at the mall unlike something they’re dumping.
• Only in 2005: Testing out if Michael Angarano could be a thing. Too bad Shia LaBeouf was already out there to fill that space.
• Scene Stealer (tie): Bruce Campbell and Mary Elizabeth Winstead.
• I Miss: Kelly Preston.
• I Don’t Miss: The glut of young adult savior movies that came out on the coattails of the Harry Potter franchise.
• 2005 Crush (tie): Kelly Preston and Mary Elizabeth Winstead.
• 2025 Crush (tie): Lynda Carter and Mary Elizabeth Winstead.
• What I Think in 2025: I feel similar now to what I did back in 2005 about Sky High, which is a testament to the quality of the movie because I’m so done with both YA movies and superhero films at this point. The young cast is strong (especially Winstead, who’s giving one of her best performances) and the movie’s zippy fun. This is exactly why I can’t cancel my Disney Plus subscription -- because every once in a while, I’ll want to revisit something like Sky High or Miracle or Holes and I’m reminded how well-done Disney live-action movies usually were back in the late '80s to mid-2000s.
One of my favorite movies as a kid. It was the first movie I actually owned; a copy on “universal media disc” for the sony handheld PSP.
ReplyDeleteGlad you appreciate it. I can’t divorce myself from kid me but I agree it’s strong and weirdly well cast. Now as a big Almost Famous fan it’s cool to see Agnarano lead a movie. I’ve also harbored a 20 year crush on Mary Elizabeth Winstead in this movie. She was kind of an unsung genre queen in the 2000s. This in 05, Final Destination 3 in 06, Death Proof in 07 (and a few others I haven’t seen that I hear are less successful like Black Christmas remake and Die Hard 4. I think in the 10s with Scott Pilgrim and 10 Cloverfield Lane she gets more recognition but I love this era.
I will digress on best song. I remember loving the moment the Bowling for Soup cover (speaking of IMO underrated 2000s genre mainstays) of I Melt With You playing when he ends up with his best friend (a novel trope to 7 year old me) and finding the lyrics emotional.
Unrelated, but I was curious of the title of the genre books you use to make the better/worse lists? Can remember it coming up several times on the show but can’t think of a specific instance to look for.
Hi William! The books' author is Michael Gingold and are called Ad Astra (that's the sci fi fantasy one) and Ad Nauseum (that's the horror one). The latter is a series of three books. Ad Astra is just one book.
DeleteI’ve never seen Sky High, but you had me at Mary Elizabeth Winstead. I just love her in general.
ReplyDelete