Flying fortresses, robots, ray-guns, and dinosaurs are all showcased in the nostalgic Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. Directed by Kerry Conran, his film features an ace pilot and his reporting love interest who investigate the mysterious disappearances of notable scientists. The film was created completely using green scene and features some amazing visuals, but overshadows the human element of the film.
It starts off in New York City, where Dr. Jorge Vargas (Julian Curry) seeks out the alliterative reporter, Polly Perkins (Gwyneth Paltrow). He tells her that he is being chased by a Dr. Totenkorf, who is kidnapping scientists. Before he can give her more information, the city is attacked by giant robots seeking the city's generators. A special pilot called Sky Captain (Jude Law) from the Flying Legion arrives to save the day and disarms a robot, but the horde leaves suddenly without anymore conflict.
Polly seeks out Sky Captain, also known as Joe, as they are ex-lovers. They quickly start bickering over their dysfunctional history involving a secret affair and a sabotaged plane. After they settle down, they come to the conclusion that the missing scientists and the robots are connected, and decide to work together. It becomes clear to the audience that Polly is one of those intrepid reporters that will have to be rescued in the end, so Joe is wary of having her around. Before they can gather any more real clues, the Flying Legion base is attacked by flying drones. The Flying Legion's top scientist, Dex (Giovanni Ribisi), is able to figure out where the drones came from, but gets kidnapped by the robots. He leaves Joe and Polly clues, which begins their adventure around the world.
As this was the first film to be completely filmed with a "digital backlot," I could tell that Conran wanted to movie to really stand out. The first scene, where the Hindenburg is docking at the Empire State Building, is breathtaking, and the visual POW doesn't let up throughout the whole movie. It has a cool vibe that is similar to German Expressionist films and film noir. The actors' faces always have a romantic glow to them, reminiscent of older films. Sky Captain is filled with allusions that will please sci-fi and movie geeks, which include the Fleischer Superman cartoons, The Shadow, The Wizard of Oz, and King Kong, along with designs from Norman Bel Geddes and Hugh Ferris. I'm a big fan of the 1920's, 30's, and 40's, so I enjoyed myself collecting the large gamut of references, and even if you don't know them, one can still enjoy the visual feast.
The story is a little more to be desired. It is very straight forward and simple. Clues lead to new locations, where goons always show up without real explanation, and friends intervene to save Joe and Polly. Joe and Polly easily fall into squabbling, and they easily fall out of it. It seems that Paltrow and Law could have had a better time with their characters, but I think that may be caused by a lack of good directing. I image it is hard to feel emotionally involved in a scene when there is nothing but a green around you, and the director is telling you what you see. There were times that when Paltrow and Law are running, and it looks completely insincere. This is most likely caused by the soundstage being smaller than the digitial locations. Close-ups of the actors are beautifully shot and altered, but with the long shots, there seems to be an obvious disconnect.
Sky Captain still has the capabilities to be a great movie. At times, I felt like I was six again and was watching Raiders of the Lost Ark for the first time with my mouth wide open. With the right direction, this could be a perfect adventure story. I wish the film industry would remake films with great ideas but require a little tweaking, instead of remaking films that were great to begin with. Sky Captain would be perfect for Spielberg, Jackson, Bird, or an older, more experienced Conran, but only if he gets his skills with the actors up there with his skills on the computer. Sky Captain is a must see for fans of pulp fiction and vintage sci-fi. It may have its flaws, but you can't say the filmmakers weren't trying.
Also, there is a notable cameo by Angelina Jolie as Commander Franky Cook, where she has an eye-patch, a goofy, British accent, and dialogue like "Alert the amphibious squadron!" If that sounds like something you'd want to see, rent this movie right now.
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