Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow Movie Review:


Since movies have become so cliché, it’s refreshing when something new like “Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow” comes along. Written and directed by Kerry Conran, this movie mirrors the film noir style of yesterday and the special effects technology of today. The imaginative story idea, sparked by Conran’s love of comic books, first came to life on his home computer.

The film’s presentation is quite unique. Using more than 2000 effects shots along with live-action actors all filmed against a blue screen, the movie has no real locations or sets. However, don’t think this movie looks like it’s made on a computer. Conran employs the latest technology to draw viewers into a very beautiful and lush world brought to life by actors Jude Law, Gwyenth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie.

The story starts in a 1940s-era stylized New York, where the Hindenburg III airship is docking at the Empire State Building. “I saw this as a kid in ‘The Book of Marvels,’” said Conran in an interview. “Then in ‘King Kong,’ he gripped the cowling dock…and the thought of airships as a mode of transportation in the city was a great image to imagine. That’s what sparked the idea for this story.”

News reporter Polly Perkins (Paltrow) is working on her beat when enormous robots invade the city, and she must duck in and out of their footsteps to pursue her story. Fortunately, she spots her ex, daredevil Sky Captain Joe Sullivan (Law) flying his plane between skyscrapers and trying to rescue her. When the two finally unite, they team up in a work-related adventure to find famous scientists who are missing.

Throughout the film, Polly and Joe have a wonderful push-pull relationship, one Conran admits mimics Nick and Nora Charles in “The Thin Man” series, another of his favorites. Paltrow was delighted to play Polly and pulls off the role perfectly, always shooting back a quip to Joe, and in true film noir style, never being sarcastic, but tantalizingly seductive. “She’s a throwback to that kind of feminine strength and cunning and hidden kind of coy, sexuality and manipulation of all that,” said Paltrow.

Law thought about his young sons, Paul and Dustin, when considering the role of Sky Captain. “It seemed to have an innocence, and yet, all of the necessary accoutrements that would excite a younger audience. There’s good humor to it as well.”

Law does justice to the boy scout-like pilot who has fun with Polly when he enlists his old pal, Frankie’s (Angelina Jolie) help with enemy combatants. Frankie lets Polly know right up front that she and Joe have a history together. Giovanni Ribisi, another cast member, lends credibility to his role as Dex, Joe’s techie guru.

“Sky Captain” has a wonderful film noir feel, something Conran loved as a kid growing up. “I grew up with films of the 1930s and 40s,” he said. “Every Sunday we watched classic films like ‘Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy,’ serials such as ‘Flash Gordon’ and ‘Buck Rogers’ or film noirs like ‘Angels Have Wings’ or ‘The Third Man.’ These were a great source of inspiration and entertainment for me.”

So how did Conran come up with the name Sky Captain? “I looked back at all the names used historically in earlier eras and in series, and it’s almost like a rhyming scheme I got into,” he said. “There were Sky King, Masked Marvel, Tailspin Tommy, Black Hawk and others and it sort of evolved kind of like an anagram while scribbling things down until something felt right.”

Conran spent six years in his living room making a 10-minute film of “Sky Captain” before producer Jon Avnet got a look at it and knew it was something different. “There is an enormous amount of action, but that’s not all,” said Avnet. “Kerry has such a special vision of graphic composition, the use of light and the use of darkness that it is somewhat overwhelming. The result is that you take a ride; that the suspension of disbelief is uncanny.”

It would take several more years and an entire team of more than 200 special effects artists to bring the film to the screen. It’s hard to imagine the scope involved in making this film, but realizing that the movie has 10 producers puts things somewhat into perspective. Jude Law served as a producer as well as an actor. “He was able to help bring in actors like Gwyenth that he showed the short film to and that’s not something typically an actor will do,” explained Conran. “He was a creative partner in things that he understood and was on the set a lot. He helped with questions about the script and contributed a lot in improvising his and Gwyneth’s roles.”

Stella McCartney designed the sensational wardrobe for Paltrow, such as the Colombo-like trench coat. “Kevin, my brother, who was a producer and designer on the film, designed all the other costumes,” added Conran.

“Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow” boasts an amazing never-seen-before look. At times, it’s so beautiful it appears like a painting, and the lighting on each character and aspect of the film seems revolutionary. Combining adventure, humor, a bit of romance and sci-fi visions of the future and past, this exceptional family film offers something for everyone.

Diana Saenger

During the age of the motion picture serial, people of all ages would flock to cinemas to catch the next chapter of their favorite hero’s latest adventure. Their admiration went to epic pulp heroes like “Tarzan”, “Flash Gordon”, “Buck Rogers”, “Commander Cody” and of course “The Masked Marvel”. This golden age of action-adventure paved the way for literally hundreds of other motion picture heroes in the years to come.

“Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow” is homage to those pioneers with the help of modern day technology. The film opens with the disappearance of the world’s premiere scientists and newspaper reporter Polly Perkins (Gwyneth Paltrow) is on the case.

Just as Perkins is about to break her story, New York City is invaded by an onslaught of mechanical beings that wage war upon the city and seem to be focused on one particular mission.

The city looks to the heavens for a hero to save the day. That hero happens to be flying-ace for hire, Sky Captain (Jude Law). Like Superman, Sky Captain screams out of the clouds above and into the fray. How can one man stop this army of menacing beings? What is Sky Captain’s connection to Polly Perkins?

For Sky Captain to save the world he will have to look to the aid of his friends, mechanical wizard Dex Dearborn (Giovanni Ribisi) and fellow flying ace, Franky Cook (Angelina Jolie) of the Royal Air Force. Once he has his allies assembled can they uncover who is behind this sinister plot before it is too late?

When you first look into the world of “Sky Captain”, you can’t help but compare it to the likes of those old ingenious Max and Dave Fleischer Superman cartoons of the 1940s. The rich textures, heavy noir shadowing, invading giant robots and a mad scientist bent on ruling the world are all vintage Fleischer. Then you have throwbacks to so many other epic serials of the same period like the classic that the film becomes a feast of the past.

There are so many clever and magical moments throughout the film that at times it is hard to soak it all in.

It is difficult to look past the film’s presentation and see what lurks beneath its brilliant execution. But the film’s simplistic storyline is something modern audiences probably won’t appreciate. Storylines from the serials were utterly simplistic to the point where you had one man in a black hat and another in a white hat. The film probably could have used a deeper approach with more fleshing out of characters and more supporting players but it would have probably ruined the illusion of the era it was trying represent. So in that case it is a “catch 22”, if you will.

The illusion is also maintained in the performances of the film’s award winning stars. Paltrow’s performance as Perkins is probably seen as weak but if you look at it as part of the whole film’s presentation it is actually quite brilliant because that is the way classic female characters of that era, like Lois Lane, were portrayed. The same goes for Law as the epic pulp hero. The only exception might be Jolie’s female commander. In the serials of the 1940s, her character probably would have been male.

Of the three, my favorite performance was that of Law who seemed born to play the role of a classic pulp hero. He reminded me so much of Buster Crabbe, William Forrest and even some of Van Williams from the 1960s TV Series, “The Green Hornet”.

“Sky Captain” is a brilliant reminder of what the past loved so much about science-fiction and how its innocent portrayal made for so many memorable moments.

(4.5 out of 5)

So Says the Soothsayer.

Dean Kish

Enjoying twenty years of peace after the end of the First World War, the world’s greatest scientists are been kidnapped and major cities around the world have come under attack by flying robots. Intrepid reporter Polly Perkins (Paltrow) is following the story and all her leads throw up one name, Totenkopf. When the world is in peril, one man is given the call to save the planet from the mechanical onslaught, that man is Sky Captain (Law).

Combining everything that was great about the 1930s serials and the latest technological advances, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow could be the future of movies.

Using real actors and in a stylised, computer generated world, writer/director Kerry Conran could have changed the way films are made forever. While many films have already used CG extensively to create backgrounds and scenery, Conran has taken things one step further by creating everything inside the computer. Technology is now at the stage that realistic and beautifully designed sets and scenery can be created digitally. All of this means that creating worlds of the future and the past are now only limited by the filmmaker’s imagination.

Imagine been transported back to a time when the world was filled with visions of extreme science, grandiose design and heroes saved us from peril at every turn. This was the time of Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers and the King of the Rocketmen, when the serial adventures gripped cinemagoers on a weekly basis. These series were high on adventure and low on budget, but they did have a huge impact on the movie world. Without them we would have never had had Star Wars, Indiana Jones and many others.

Now writer/director Kerry Conran has utilised the latest computer technology to create these fantastical worlds like they have never been seen before. Here we have giant robots walking through the streets of New York, Zeppelins docking with the Empire State Building and flying aircraft carriers patrolling the skies. The visuals are stunning throughout, capturing the look of the 30s and crossing it with the extreme scientific views of the Sci-Fi writers and filmmakers of the time.

Matching the stylised visuals is a story that captures the essence of the time. In Joe “Sky Captain” Sullivan we have a hero that everyone can get behind. Polly Perkins is the typical tenacious reporter who finds herself in peril at every turn. Dex Dearborn is the young inventor who has a passion for science and a brain to match. Totenkopf and his machines you have a villain that is both mysterious and deadly. Couple these characters together with high adventure, fabulous set pieces and some snappy dialogue and you have a movie that successfully pays homage to those Saturday morning serials.

The performances of the cast also capture the spirit of the time and the style. While Jude Law might not be a Buster Crabbe, he certainly looks the part as the dashing ace pilot ready to risk his life to save the day. This is another fine performance by the actor that proves his can play the hero figure very well. Gwyneth Paltrow is perfect as reporter Polly Perkins. Her character might not be the typical damsel in distress that you usually associate with these types of movies but Paltrow makes the character a plucky, strong reporter who is not afraid to get involved in the action. Giovanni Ribisi is the quintessential geeky scientist who invents ray guns and does those special modifications to Sky Captain’s plane.

There are also some good supporting performances from the always excellent Michael Gambon as Editor Morris Paley, Omid Djalili provides the comic relief as Himalayan contact Kaji and Ling Bai looks very menacing as the mysterious woman who controls all of the machines.

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow captures the essence of the 1930s serials and has all the thrills and adventure you’d expect from genre. The movie also looks stunning throughout and when you throw in some excellent and enthusiastic performances then you have one of the best examples of a popcorn movie to come along in a very long time

Star Rating = * * * *

Jamie Kelwick

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