Re-Viewing: "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow" (2004)

Hi there. When "Re-View" films, it actually means that i am RE-Viewing them. Thus giving me the opportunity to share my reflections on a film I have by then viewed many times. Some may seem better, some may seem worse. Instant hit doesn't mean classic, standing the test of time does.

"Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow" (2004)
Director: Kevin Conran
Feautring such actors as Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie, Giovanni Ribisi and Laurence Olivier back from the dead!



Now, most of you may be wondering why I pull this relatively obscure movie down from the shelf. Mostly it is due to the post I made yesterday, "Avatar Depression". Because in a sense this movie and Avatar share a lot more than Avatar does with many of the films it either ripped off or "was inspired by" (depending on how much you liked the movie).

This film is, like the more succesful "300" and "Sin City" after it, shot entirely with actors against greenscreens. I am going out on a limb here saying that this movie was the first to counsciously do so, even going so far as making it somewhat of a promotional hook.

The movie is set in a alternate circa 1939, where we as the audience are never quite sure whether or not there is a World War II going on. But that doesn't really matter because this movie is, like "Star Wars" and "Indiana Jones" before it, heavily inspired by the serial movies of the period, and thus the outlandish action (involving Max Fleischer-inspired giant robots, tons of dynamite, a diabolical Master Plot by a german doctor and a seemingly indestructible plane) follows the law of cartoon physics.

Thus, what we get is pure unadulterated old-school fun. This is in no small way helped by the excellent chemistry between Jude Law (as the titular captain) and Gwyneth Paltrow (as his reporter ex-girlfriend Polly Perkins) with Giovanni Ribisi also delivering a delicious performance in the few scenes he gets. Though, in all fairness once the actors are not playing off eachother, it becomes a bit too clear that they are literally acting against nothing. This didn't seem to scare Ribisi though, as he later went on to be in "Avatar".

Yes, the graphic work may seem somewhat dated today (even taking the retro-look into account) and may even have done so when the movie was first released. But the movie is so much more than its effects, as any movie should be. A sobering reminder to everybody:

A movie that is cutting edge when it is released will, by its very nature, not look cutting edge forever. A movie needs to be more than its effects, and "Sky Captain" is. It is unadulterated fun, sure the please the boy in everyone, and the Jude Law-adoring inner girl as well.



Oh, and it has Angelina Jolie. Though for those already drooling I must caution that she wears and eyepatch and a british accent.