jwhitus

I saw "Sky High" at a preview screening tonight, and I must say I was pleasantly surprised! A lot of laughs for kids and grownups, a couple of good plot twists, and a nice message for the youngsters. Kurt Russell steals the show as an over-the-top super hero, who wants nothing more than for his son to follow in the family business. Kelly Preston looks amazing as his flying super hero wife. A great group of kids play the Sky High students, with cool effects to help them into their roles... and some nice parables about life in high school. I expected lots of eye rolling and lame super hero humor... but there was no lameness, no eye rolls, but plenty of good laughs and sweet moments. Parents, feel free to go with your kids to this one!

I almost pulled some very important facial muscles because of all the eye-rolling I did during this film. While it is full of eye candy, which comes mainly in the form of Halle Berry and Benjamin Bratt in various stages of undress, it's not enough to sweeten the plot. And, the SFX of catwoman leaping through the city skyline suffers in comparison to the same type of sequence in "Spiderman 2." Sharon Stone looks fantastic, too, and can still vamp with the best of them. But all the stars are wasted in this disappointment. Although, Ms. Berry sure knows how to work that dominatrikitty outfit. In a summer full of intelligent action movies like "S2," and "Bourne Supremacy," this one is dull, listless, and has plot holes you could drive a semi through. I was looking forward to a decent "tough chick" movie this summer, but this ain't it! "Catwoman" should be dumped into the kitty litter.

I thought "The Bourne Identity" was one of the smartest action flicks I'd ever seen. While I don't think the sequel is quite as good, it certainly is a worthy successor. The verite, shaky camera is probably overused and at times obliterates the action, but I had a great time watching it! The fight scenes, chases, and plot twists were all engrossing, and Matt Damon's brooding hero becomes even more engaging in this second go-round. Another film critic I know has dubbed 2004 the "summer of superior sequels," since arguments could be made that "Spiderman 2" and "Shrek 2" are arguably better than the originals. "The Bourne Supremacy" completes the trifecta!