Review of Sky High (2005) by Isabella D — 03 Nov 2015

Will Stronghold has a completely normal set of anxieties about starting high school. However, he is a not-so-normal teenager attending a not-so-normal high school, which he attends with fellow children of superheroes. Will has a lot to live up to with Captain Stronghold as his father and Josie Jetstream as his mother. From the beginning of the movie, he is pronounced side-kick, and all of his pride is deflated because he cannot carry the family legacy. It's up to him to discover if it was just a fluke and if he's a superhero after all in Sky High. This film carries a strong theme of identity and character development portrayed through cinematography along with the storyline itself. Being a generic teen movie about discovering identity, there is segregation between "cool kids" (the superheroes) and the "uncool" ones (sidekicks). Some breakthrough moments of character development arise when Will admits that he is powerless to his father, when he earns his powers, and when he denies his "cool" crush Gwen and returns to Layla the sidekick, the one who had been there all along. The cinematography and special effects explicitly and impressively add a new dimension of meaning to each scene and aid the portrayal of Will's good-natured character that leads him to perseverance and immense character growth in the long-run.

The main character, Will, is introduced with his eyes looking downward in low lighting. The colors are bland, and as the narrator, he admits that he has no superpowers as he struggles to lift weights in his bedroom. The determination in his face followed by an expression of disappointment and defeated coughs foreshadow the obstacles and challenges that he encounters throughout the movie. Soon before his father walks up to his room to check on him before the first day of school, he hurriedly adds weights to the barbell before his father comes up the stairs to give the impression that he has inherited his father's super-strength. As the scenes transition, the camera is positioned so that the black weight being added to the barbell moves into the camera, engulfing the screen in black. The camera then zooms out of his father's black blazer as he walks away from the camera and up the stairs. This signifies the shadow of his father that he is living in, and the despair that he has not appropriately inherited super-powers.

Steve Stronghold is very much like football movie fathers aspiring for their sons to follow their footsteps and be football stars. One Captain Stronghold's first lines in the movie was, "Will, I just want you to know how proud I am that you'll be attending my alma-mater," laying out his expectations to emphasize the pressure that he's putting on his son. After being pronounced a side-kick at school, Will brought all of his fellow side-kick friends back to his house. When he began to reveal to his father that he was pronounced sidekick and washed out of power placement, the father immediately passed judgement and blamed his son's failure on coach Boomer, a typical sign of denial from frustrated parents. When he was later letting out his frustrations in the secret sanctum while having a talk with Will's mother, he frustratedly remarked, "All I ever wanted for him was to save the world," as he pierced the cue ball with his pool cue, releasing his anger. This completely unrealistic expectation for his son is expressed through his actions as he effortlessly stabs through the cue ball, an inhuman ability. Will initially blamed his lack of power on himself, evident in his facial expressions when his father was present, as he continued to live in his shadow depicted in in the scene above on the right. Another typical behavior of parents who strive for their children to succeed just as they did is to expect them to carry the same drive and passion that they did, and to excel above their peers. Will surpassed his father's judgements and his own frustrations, and moved on with his life. One of the big realizations that Will made in this point in the movie was that "no matter what, either way, I'm proud to be a sidekick. Actually, I'm proud to be hero support.".

In compensation for his character growth, Will earned his super-strength. 25 minutes into the film, Will was wearing a blue shirt with a small red stripe on the cuff at the same point in time that he was stressed out and self conscious about his lack of powers. Keep in mind that his own father's superhero outfit was red, white, and blue, and was also seen wearing a red shirt when showing Will the secret sanctum depicted below. Several scenes later, Will gained his power in the lunchroom while he was in a physical fight with Warren Peace. He was shown picking up a lunchroom table with incredible strength, and in this scene his shirt was nearly completely red with a small streak of blue white on the sleeves. There were also rays of light poking from behind him displaying his superpowers and dominance, along with emotional strength gained from growing up and making a difficult transition into high school while accepting his weaknesses and learning from that experience as well. When Will came home from the fight, both of his parents appeared to be disgruntled and talked to him sternly. They knew that he had received his powers, but were more distressed that he nearly destroyed the cafeteria. Will's father ordered him to go to the secret sanctum. Appearing as if he was about to lecture Will, he revealed his utmost pride and even rewarded his son with an Xbox. The color change in Will's shirt symbolizes the confidence and pride that his father developed for him once he earned his powers.

Sky High is an underdog-prominent film that introduces several "unpopular" characters doubted by those around them, all of which end up victorious. A prime example of this is the introduction of the scrawny nerd, Larry. As Will and Layla boarded the bus on the first day of school, the other children asked if Layla was Will's girlfriend. When it was revealed that Layla was not his girlfriend, Larry, the nerdy redhead, confidently introduced himself to her. He said, "Oh, well, in that case... Hi, I'm Larry," and removed his glasses in the most flirtatious way possible. He stood far below her as an undeveloped middle school boy, and she physically looked down on him, just like his peers did symbolically. Then, several scenes later, Coach Boomer was about to decipher if each super-powered individual was a hero or a side-kick. In the gym, all students had to display their powers in front of the entire class, very similar to a typical middle-school gym class scenario. As they began, Larry was the first one to be called up and tested in front of his peers. "Little Larry," as coach boomer mockingly called him as he welcomed him up to the stage. Larry nervously looked around at his peers in his sweater-vest and glasses. Layla remarked, "What's humiliating him in front of everyone going to prove? This is unfair." Will replied, "If life were to suddenly get fair, I doubt it would happen in high school." Stopping them both in their tracks, Larry started to roar, and instantly transformed into a towering stone monster. Seconds later, a car descended from the air, summoned by Coach Boomer, and he generously accepted the car into his arms as a camera shot of all of his peers in fear and awe was projected on the screen. Now he stood high above Layla, and she was even afraid of him as she looked up at him, opposed to the way she looked down at him before. He was then announced "hero.".

Larry's example foreshadows the rapid character development that the other sidekicks developed throughout the film as their powers proved to be useful in fighting crime, and goes to prove that the rest of the characters end up proving others' doubts of them to be invalid as the film progresses.

There are evident lessons about staying true to yourself while simultaneously persevering and pushing yourself to be the best you can be. Outward pressures will always be exerted on you, whether it be family or friends. Pressure to improve yourself could be an internal pressure, such as the pressure Will felt at the beginning of the movie when he blamed his lack of powers on himself. Lessons that are learned during this time of personal development and pressure from others are portrayed by color schemes, lighting, camera angles, and other cinematography carefully constructed by Mike Mitchell throughout Sky High. Will was proud to be a sidekick or superhero, and brought all of his fellow sidekicks up with him to succeed in the end when he accepted his weaknesses and continued to strive to be the best version of himself. Keeping Will's situation in mind, you could be the one to bring others up with you to strive for self-acceptance, and remind others to take unrealistic expectations coming from others with a grain of salt. You never know what could happen.