It's "Pretty in Pink" meets "Spider-Man," a melding of high school angst and superhero shenanigans with a cool layer of self-effacing humor spread evenly over everything. It has the same teen-parent dissonance and fantasy factor as Disney's remake of "Freaky Friday" and it proves the same sort of success.

Meet Will Stronghold (Michael Angarano), budding high school freshman. His anxiety level is a bit elevated because he won't be going to just any high school. He'll be going to Sky High, a special school for the offspring of superheroes. And Will's folks are the biggest superheroes of them all — high-flying Josie Jetstream (Kelly Preston) and superstrong Commander Stronghold (Kurt Russell).

Only problem is, Will doesn't have any superpowers of his own. And he hasn't had the heart to tell his dad. It looks like he's going to end up a sidekick instead of a superhero. In other words, one of the geeks in high school instead of one of the popular people.

What's worse, the powerful son of one of his father's archenemies has it out for him in the halls. Will could be toast real soon.

Luckily he's got his longtime best friend Layla (Danielle Panabaker) for moral support. But when Will starts to develop in ways he never dreamed, the hottest girl in school, Gwen (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), makes him a pet project.

So you've got the obnoxious cool people and the lovable losers, great parental expectations, true love and superficial love ... and all sorts of crazy powers to play with. Writers Paul Hernandez, Robert Schooley and Mark McCorkle juggle their genres with just the right balance of action and angst, giving well-worn storylines new zest by dressing them in capes.

Russell sets the tone of the film as the "Commander," a puffy-chested, machismo-steeped winking parody of every hero he's played over the past 30 years, with Preston bright-eyed and apparently clueless as his aerial support system (the shot where she has to pick him up and fly him to a fight scene is priceless. He may be the Commander, but he's no Superman).

But the movie belongs to the kids and the special effects. There's a snotty cheerleader who can break into multiples of herself, a couple of bullies who can stretch and move superfast, a girl who can turn herself into a guinea pig and a guy who can become a human puddle. Which doesn't sound all that different from most high schools.

And that's why "Sky High" works. It takes the familiar and makes it outlandish without ever taking itself too seriously. And with the glut of superheroes onscreen these days, it's nice to see some dealing with everyday life without swirling into some dark depression.

"Sky High" is as bright, bold and silly as Commander Stronghold's outfit, but it has just the right hint of sincerity to take hold. This school's worth enrolling in.