July 29, 2005 | Sky High qualifies as that most serendipitous of moviegoing pleasures, an altogether pleasant surprise. Smartly written and sprightly played, it’s a clever commingling of spoofy superheroics, school-daze high jinks, and family-friendly coming-of-age dramedy. If you’ve already decided to give this one a pass, figuring it’s nothing more than a live-action version of The Incredibles, well, think again. Sure, there are a few similarities between the two movies. But Sky High stands -- and, occasionally, soars -- on its own considerable merits.

It’s never easy for the offspring of celebrities to establish their own unique identities. But for 14-year-old Will Stronghold (Michael Angarano), it’s especially difficult because his parents are the fantastically strong Commander (a slyly self-satirical Kurt Russell) and the high-flying Jet Stream (Kelly Preston). When they’re not battling evil or doing derring-do, they’re Steve and Josie Stronghold, real-estate agents par excellence. But when they’re decked out in capes and tights, and duking it out with bad guys or worse robots, they’re the ultimate power couple.

With mom and dad fully expecting him to join the family business, Will reluctantly matriculates at their alma mater: Sky High, an elite academy that remains (thanks to the miracle of anti-gravity devices) perpetually aloft above cloud banks. It’s a high school like any other, complete with peer pressures and polarized cliques. The big difference here is, the primary division isn’t between jocks and geeks. Rather, freshmen are labeled as either “Heroes” or “Sidekicks,” according to their abilities and potential, and trained accordingly in separate yet equal fashion.

Unfortunately, Will almost immediately is designated as a “Sidekick,” the Sky High equivalent of a special-needs student, because he doesn’t seem to be truly superpowerful (a fact the mortified teen has heretofore hidden from his heroic parents). Angarano hits the right notes of sincerity and uncertainty throughout his entire performance, but he’s at his most appealing as he illustrates how, even for the son of superstar superheroes, adolescence can feel like a long and unbroken series of awkward embarrassments.

As a Sidekick, Will feels totally at ease with other dweebs: Layla (Danielle Panabaker), who controls her powers to control plant life so she can remain Will’s classmate; Ethan (Dee-Jay Daniels), who can melt into a puddle; Magenta (Kelly Vitz), a shape-shifter who, alas, can only shape herself into a guinea pig; and Zach (Nicholas Brown), a bright young man who can cast a glow as a kinda-sorta human nightlight. On the other hand, Will can’t avoid clashes with a far more hostile fellow student: Warren Peace (Steven Strait), a sullen young man who can toss fireballs from his fingertips – and who nurses a grudge against the Stronghold family.

Under the watchful eye of shape-shifting Principal Powers (former Wonder Woman Lynda Carter) and the demanding tutelage of high-decibel Coach Boomer (Bruce Campbell), Will eventually discovers his own super strength. Beautiful classmate Gwen Grayson (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) can’t help but notice. As it turns out, however, being noticed by Gwen may not be such a good thing. Certainly, it doesn’t please Layla that her long-time friend (with whom she’d like to become friendlier) is being a mite too friendly with another girl.

Director Mike Mitchell (Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo) takes an affectionately playful approach to the screenplay’s unmistakable metaphors regarding adolescence as a time of insecurity, evolution and establishing identity. Instead of belaboring the obvious, he plays for laughs even while delivering gentle shocks of recognition for many -- most? -- members of the audience. Better still, Mitchell also manages to keep Sky High light on its feet during the slam-bang excess of the climactic action sequences. Here and elsewhere, the effects often appear deliberately cheesy, as if to remind us that, hey, it’s only a movie. And a very funny movie, at that.