(c) Disney

Fans of ’70s TV will be glad to see Wonder Woman herself, Lynda Carter, as, naturally, the school principal, who welcomes the incoming class to Sky High’s version of freshman orientation, Power Placement, where the newbies are divided into “Heroes�? and “Sidekicks�? (P.C. term: “Hero Support�?) by the bombastic Coach Boomer (played by cult movie icon Bruce Campbell and his chin).

Without any powers of his own yet, Will is made a sidekick, much to everyone’s surprise as they all had high expectations for the son of not one but two super-heroes. He is joined in this school’s version of “Special Ed�? by other outcasts with such seemingly useless abilities as melting, glowing and turning into a Guinea pig.

The idea of taking the typical high school social class structure (privileged cliques lord over the lowly “losers�?) and adapting it to the super-hero dynamic is a good one, well handled by director Mike Mitchell (who has some atonement due to such previous cinematic sins as Saving Christmas and Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo), one that is brought further into focus when Will’s powers finally emerge and he is bumped up to the “Hero�? curriculum. But he finds that being a hero doesn’t make high school any easier … you know, that whole “with great power comes great responsibility�? jazz … and he’s put to the test when an old nemesis of his parents (who resides in a secret lair right out of Mighty Morphing Power Rangers) resurfaces for some long overdue revenge.

(In a nostalgic, I Love the’80s nod to the John Hughes-era of high school flicks, the soundtrack is filled with such new wave anthems as Spandau Ballet’s “True�?, Tear for Fears’ “Everybody Wants to Rule the World�? and Modern English’s “I Melt With You�?, covered by such contemporary acts as Bowling for Soup and The Click Five. Yes, you’ll be partying like its 1985.)

Fans of such genre-bending series as Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Smallville know that high school angst with a side of super-powers can make for enthralling viewing. And while Sky High certainly doesn’t dig as deep as those shows (especially Buffy, with its literal “high school is hell�? mantra), it does offer a lighter side of that brand of edge along with the laughs. And with such comic actors as Cloris Leachman as an x-ray-eyed school nurse and not one but two Kids in the Hall alum - Dave Foley (A Bug’s Life) as a former sidekick named “Mr. Boy�? and Kevin McDonald (Lilo and Stitch) as the large-lobed Mr. Medulla - populating the faculty, how could you go wrong?

Where the film does go wrong (aside from some blurry CGI) is in the plotting. If I were a teacher (you can call me Professor Kirby) grading this term paper, I’d give it a “P�? for predictable. For example, if you don’t see coming the exact scenario in which all the misfit sidekicks will be given the opportunity to use their unique powers to save the day, well then you haven’t seen very many movies.

But on the other hand, the target audience for this film (children and pre-teens) hasn’t seen very many movies, so I’ll grade the final exam on a sliding scale, with an “E�? for effort and extra credit for the lack of crudity …