The title of this charming movie refers to a high school that floats high in the clouds through the use of an antigravity device. Considering its location, it’s no surprise to find that it is no ordinary educational institution, but a school for the children of superheroes. But Sky High is also a traditional Disney film, so the hero is Will Stronghold (Michael Angarano), a teen freshman who is the son of the greatest superheroes of all, the Commander (Kurt Russell) and Jetstream (Kelly Preston). His main problem in coming of age is that he apparently has no superpowers of his own. On the first day of school, when it comes time to be declared either a hero or a sidekick by Coach Boomer (Bruce Campbell), Will is relegated to the latter class.

As a sidekick, he learns the classic lessons that "all that glitters is not gold" and that teamwork often wins the day. He earns the animosity of Warren Peace (a surly, James Dean-like Steven Straight), but that’s mostly because Will’s dad put Warren’s dad behind bars.

Sky High deals with coming of age and the awkward first-time events of anyone’s teen years, but does so by amplifying those events, making them larger than life to fit the lives of superheroes, and addressing the human condition in ways that both kids and parents can enjoy and approach on an equal footing.

All of the actors turn in professional performances and seem to have a good time while doing so. In-jokes abound. I won’t spoil your fun by disclosing any, except to tell you that Lynda Carter (TV’s Wonder Woman), who plays Principal Powers, has one of the funniest lines. The special effects are excellent when need be, deliberately cheesy when that is appropriate, and the source music has been impeccably chosen.

Sky High is a modest film. Though its cast of characters includes Warren Peace, it is no War and Peace but a delightful, succinct, unpretentious family comedy without a bad frame in its entire length. With the resplendent Batman Returns, it is one of only two roses among the summer movie thorns.

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