Sky High

From the director of Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo and Surviving Christmas comes a movie that doesn't entirely suck. Well, it's not that great either, but Sky High — a Disney concoction that combines the pluck-worthiest elements of The Incredibles (a family of super-heroes), Harry Potter (gifted kids go to a special school) and Spy Kids (youngsters find out their parents aren't so square after all) and turns it into a high-gloss confection that is exactly what it sounds like. The only reason to give it any more thought than that is because it actually had potential to rise above its mash-up conventions. Sky High concerns young teenager children of super-powered heroes who attend a floating high school where they are divided into "heroes" and "sidekicks" based on abilities. The son of the world's two most powerful heroes (Kurt Russell and Kelly Preston) goes through teen angst and high school insecurities only to overcome and defeat the big bad at the end while making friends, learning lessons about judging others on appearance and growing up. It's Sky High's occasional flashes of cleverness — in the performance of Michael Angarano as the son, for example, or the real moments between the various students — that make it actually more frustrating, because Sky High didn't need to be a dumb, watered-down knock-off. It could have been a fun, kind of delightful one. Extras include the worst blooper reel in DVD history, as well as a couple of fairly straightforward featurettes, and an alternate opening that actually ties into the film's conclusion and sets up the action more effectively, with no explanation why it was cut. Looking at the rest of the film, it's no surprise that something with dramatic weight and narrative potential had no place there. Plus: music video, more. (Disney/Buena Vista)