Reviews

Sometimes you take your kids to movies and suffer through them for their sake. Every once in a while there is a movie that is fun for everyone. I went to this movie preparing to be annoyed, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. My 10-year-old daughter and I both laughed out loud often, as did other kids and parents in the audience.

Restraint and balance is the key to this movie's charm. It is neither too crude nor too bland. It is both silly and sweet. There is a good balance of slapstick and more subtle humor. The CGI effects blend nicely into the story and don't upstage the live actors. Ricky Gervais' portrayal of an obnoxious and inarticulate boss could have become grating, but his screen time is kept short enough to keep it from becoming bothersome.

Robin Williams gives and understated (for him) performance as Teddy Roosevelt, and delivers the film's message of perseverance without being overly preachy.

Owen Wilson re-visits his sensitive cowboy shtick from "Shanghai Noon" to great effect. He has terrific chemistry with the Roman general Octavius played by Steve Coogan.

The film is rated PG for a bit of rude humor (one character is admonished not to be a "kiss-ass", and a monkey urinates on someone) but on the whole, it avoids excessive crudeness.

Not many movies these days earn applause from a theater audience, but Pixar has done it again. When I saw the previews last year, I wondered how they would manage to create cars with hearts and souls, but they did it. I'm not a big fan of auto racing, so some of the celebrity cameos went a little over my head, but the race scenes were still very exciting. The film is definitely family friendly - though at 2+ hours it may run long for the youngest viewers. The - um - personalities of the characters and the Route 66 background make this a movie that grandparents and grandchildren can both share and enjoy. The artwork - both on cars and the background scenery is stunning.

I took my kids to this movie expecting that I would not like it very much. In the end, I think I enjoyed it more than they did. It was light, campy, & tongue-in-cheek. There were some very funny performances by supporting cast members that made me laugh out loud.

Some reviewers have described it as "Breakfast Club" meets "The Incredibles". The theme of high-school misfits bonding was very reminiscent of John Hughes movies. The soundtrack contained covers of favorite hits from the 80's, so I think that is a very apt characterization.

I take my kids to lots of movies that they enjoy much more than I do, but with "Sky High" I walked out of the theater grinning.