History Film / SkyHigh2005

* MsFanservice: Jetstream's costume shows [[AbsoluteCleavage a lot of skin]], as does Gwen's Homecoming gown.

** [[{{Deconstruction}} Deconstructed]] with the BigBad's background and motivations. [[spoiler:Sue Tenny's powers as a {{technopath}} were considered the stuff of {{Sidekick}}s when she went to Sky High, and her resulting status as a nerdy outcast drove her down the path of evil. Speaking outside of the film for a moment, other fictional heroes such as Iron Man show that control of machines and having access to very powerful tech is a ''very'' useful thing. However, she WAS originally enrolled in SH in the 70's, and technology was nowhere near as advanced, effective or useful as it is now.]]

* WildTeenParty: Gwen throws one [[spoiler:in Will's house under the pretense of it being the "Homecoming" committee. He's pretty angry with her about it]].

* SpandexLatexOrLeather: Latex, Camp/kid-friendly.

* TheCheerleader: Penny is not just ''a'' cheerleader, she's ''all of them''.

* HollywoodNerd:
** [[spoiler:Sue Tenny/Gwen Grayson in her first childhood]].
** Layla's in the geeky crowd but is still considered quite pretty, and she gets a more traditional nerd hitting on her during her very first day of school.

** After they resisted it the entire film, the Principal's last line is, "[[spoiler:I'm not Franchise/WonderWoman, you know.]]" She's played by Creator/LyndaCarter. It is also a CastingGag, since Carter's character in ''Sky High'' is the principal of the titular school, and her character in ''Wonder Woman'' is a superhero.

* AppropriatedApellation: If Coach Boomer doesn't like a student or their powers, he gives them an insulting moniker like "Popsicle" for Ethan or "Hothead" for Warren. In the climax, Coach Boomer orders "Hothead" seriously to evacuate students [[spoiler:as Royal Pain goes on her rampage]] and Warren later calls Ethan "Popsicle" affectionately for helping him take down Speed, sharing a high-five.

* {{Meganekko}}: Kelly Preston looked ''damn'' good as Josie, as did [[spoiler:Creator/MaryElizabethWinstead as Sue Tenny]].

** TheLeader: Will (he wears red, he's the protagonist, and (for a while0 he's technically higher ranking than his friends (hero instead of sidekick)

* ThoseTwoBadGuys: Lash and Speed are working for the BigBad.

* MaskedVillainsUnmaskedHeroes: The main villain Royal Pain wears a helmet that covers [[spoiler:her]] entire face. The Commander and Jetstream obscure their identities through ClarkKenting, and their superhero costumes don't have masks. [[TheHero Will]] and his friends don't wear masks either.

* SkirtOverSlacks: Layla has this fashion choice at some points in the movie.

* {{Expy}}:
** Speed and Lash have been called "[[Franchise/PowerRangers Evil Bulk and Skull]]".
** Layla is essentially ComicBook/PoisonIvy from Franchise/{{Batman}}. She's a [[HeroesWantRedheads redhead]] who [[GreenThumb controls plants]], [[ColorMotif always wears green]], and is very [[FriendToAllLivingThings environmentally friendly]], etc. -- [[CorruptedCharacterCopy except she's a]] [[InvertedTrope good gal.]]
** Will himself could arguably be an Expy for Franchise/{{Superman}} (or ComicBook/{{Superboy}}) in terms of powers and Franchise/SpiderMan in terms of personality.
** All-American Boy can be seen as an Expy for both ComicBook/{{Robin}} and ComicBook/BuckyBarnes.
** Magenta can be considered either an Expy for [[ComicBook/AlphaFlight Snowbird]] or a GenderFlip Expy of [[ComicBook/TeenTitans Beast]] [[ComicBook/DoomPatrol Boy]].
** Will's parents, the Commander and Jetstream, are considered to be Expies for Superman and Franchise/WonderWoman, respectively. They are also reminiscent of Franchise/{{Batman}} and Comicbook/{{Robin}} because of their [[ElaborateUndergroundBase underground secret lair]]; and, for the Commander, ComicBook/CaptainAmerica, due to his red white and blue costume, his sidekick, and being named [[MeaningfulName Steve]]. Josie/Jetstream also shares commonalities with Comicbook/LoisLane due to having the same day job as her husband and [[IKnowKarate knowing karate]].

* AllLoveIsUnrequited: Mr. Boy, for Josie. Justified in-story, in that a hero like her could never notice someone in 'Hero Support' - not with the strapping, handsome, charismatic Commander around.

* AlwaysSaveTheGirl: Played straight in Save the Citizen. Warren shouts at Will to "save the citizen" which would win them the game, even when Speed nearly kills Warren by suffocating him. Will decides to save Warren and then [[TakeAThirdOption toss him to grab the dummy hostage]] and win. Warren doesn't thank him, but he does mellow out later on.

** Warren says he won't rent a tux for Homecoming. He shows up wearing one that used to belong to his Dad.

* KnowWhenToFoldEm: After Layla shows off her powers, [[spoiler:Penny and her clones reveal that if they stay in the school everyone will die, since Royal Pain is going to blow it out of the sky. Penny may be a heartless henchwoman, but even ''she'' doesn't want to lose her life]].

* OnlySaneMan: ''Warren'' of all people grabs the SmartBall in the climax when Coach Boomer orders him to find or make an exit from the gym as [[spoiler:Royal Pain starts her rampage]]. Rather than flee in a panic as most of the students are doing, he leads the sidekicks to an air vent and blasts it open.

* DoesNotKnowHisOwnStrength: Steve. [[spoiler:And Will, after he gets his powers. Justified, since Will is less experienced than his father.]]

* RealityEnsues:
** After Will fights with Warren, Powers sends them to the detention room since fighting in schools is prohibited.
** As seen in the page quote, Nurse Spex mentions that kids who fall into vats of [[ILoveNuclearPower nuclear waste]] and don't develop superpowers usually ''[[BlackComedy die.]]''
** The Commander's SuperStrength means that he sometimes [[DoesNotKnowHisOwnStrength has problems]] with household electronics when he gets upset. [[CrazyPrepared Luckily, he has extras.]]
*** Shown again when he puts a pool stick straight through the cue ball when he's aggravated.
** In the climax, you would expect ThisIsNotADrill would come into play and that all the heroes and students gathered in a gym would be ready for a real emergency. [[spoiler:Nope. It turns out that if someone fires a gun into a crowd, even one that doesn't kill people, the actual adults left will focus on getting the students to safety and leave themselves open to fire while the students themselves regress to blind panic, meaning ''no one'' is prepared to handle a trigger-happy supervillain]].

* NotSoDifferent: Realizing how much the sidekicks are bullied, [[spoiler:Will shows empathy for Royal Pain being bullied as a sidekick when apologizing to Gwen for what his dad did to "her mom". This goes out the window when Royal Pain admits that she didn't have a mother; she IS the original Sue Tenny]].

* LifeIsntFair: When Layla complains that Power Placement and splitting kids into Heroes and Sidekicks based on how cool Coach Boomer thinks they're powers are isn't fair, Will has this surprisingly deep retort:

* StockSuperpowers:
** {{Animorphism}}: Magenta, but she can only [[WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway turn into a guinea pig]].
** ElementalPowers:
*** AnIcePerson: A background character called "Freeze Girl" in the credits.
*** GreenThumb: Layla.
*** LightEmUp: Zach, but he just [[WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway glows]].
*** MakeMeWannaShout: Coach Boomer.
---->'''Coach Boomer:''' '''''''[[LargeHam SIIIIIIDE-KIIIIIICK!]]'''''''
*** MakingASplash: Ethan. Although he [[WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway doesn't control water, he can "melt" into some kind of liquid (and can't do anything while in it)]].
*** PlayingWithFire: Warren.
** {{Flight}}: Josie.
** FlyingBrick: Steve and Josie operating in tandem. [[spoiler:Will; "Flying" (flight, speed, agility) from his mother, "Brick" (strength, durability) from his father.]]
** MesACrowd: Penny.
** RubberMan: Lash.
** RockMonster: Larry turns into one.
** {{Sizeshifter}}: [[spoiler:Ron Wilson, Bus Driver gains this ability at the very end after falling into a vat of toxic waste]].
** SpeaksFluentAnimal: Layla's mom is mentioned having this ability; it's why Layla's a vegetarian.
** SuperSpeed: [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Speed]].
** SuperStrength[=/=]NighInvulnerability: Steve, [[spoiler:and later Will]].
** {{Technopath}}: Gwen.
** XRayVision: Nurse Spex.

It features a surprising number of high-level names, including Creator/MichaelAngarano as Will Stronghold, Creator/DaniellePanabaker as Layla, Creator/KurtRussell as The Commander/Steve Stronghold, Creator/KellyPreston as Jetstream/Josie Stronghold, Lynda "Wonder Woman" Carter as Principal Powers, Creator/BruceCampbell as Coach Boomer, and Creator/MaryElizabethWinstead as Gwen Grayson. The film maintains a surprisingly sizable following, despite having generally fallen under the radar. This was also the first [[Film/DoctorStrange2016 Disney-owned superhero movie]] scored by Creator/MichaelGiacchino (''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'' doesn't count). None of his music was on the album released with the movie, but Creator/{{Intrada}} ''finally'' released [[http://store.intrada.com/s.nl/it.A/id.10676/.f?sc=13&category=-113 his score]] in 2016.

* FirstGirlWins: [[spoiler:Will and Layla, who he's known since first grade, get together]].

* OlderThanTheyLook: Will is seriously grossed out when when he learns that [[spoiler:Gwen is Sue Tenny]].

* RaiseHimRightThisTime: [[spoiler:Royal Pain was regressed to a baby by her own Pacifier device, then she was raised by her henchman to be evil again]].

* EnemyMine: Lash and Speed force Will and Warren to team up during Save the Citizen. In a case of NiceJobFixingItVillain, not even Warren is petty enough to let his grudge against Will affect gameplay, and his JerkassHasAPoint moment is about Will focusing to win. Will then insists on saving Warren from Speed, who is suffocating him, and they win the game nonetheless. While Warren doesn't thank him, he drops most of his animosity towards Will, especially after talking to Layla.

-->'''BigBad:''' [[spoiler:I went through puberty ''twice''... for ''this.'']]

* WhamShot: Right before the climax, Will's at rock bottom - [[spoiler:he's lost Layla, lost Gwen, and lost all his other friends for the sake of a popularity that he's now likely lost too. As he sits morosely in the Secret Sanctum, paging through his dad's old yearbook, he notices two things in quick succession - first, a student who's a dead ringer for Gwen is pictured as the builder of the Pacifier weapon, and second, that the actual Pacifier is ''gone''. Cue "OhCrap"]].