Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004)

[ARCHIVE: This review actually got published, the editor even thought it was great.]

Written for the September 30th, 2004 edition of the JHU Newsletter.

In the far flung year of 1939, the people of Gotham City live happy and healthy lives, working by day, enjoying the company of their families by night. But unbeknownst to them, their fair city is threatened by menacing mechanical monstrosities. Unstoppable, invincible, unreasonable, the armies of Dr. Totenkopf crisscross the globe, stealing materials with sinister surgical precision and then vanishing. But fear not! Up in the sky is the champion of the common man, ace flyer Sky Captain and his air pirates! Along with ace reporter Polly Perkins, his scientific sidekick Dex Dearborn and Capt. Franky Cook, the fate of the world rests on their shoulders. Go, Sky Captain, fight for everlasting freedom!

A throwback to the old radio and movie serials of yesteryear, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow hits you like a breath of old, recycled air: stale to some people, full of intrigue and wonder for others. First-time director Kerry Conran started the film in his own one-man studio with a single computer to his name. His goal: to make a film that, aside from the actors and incidental props, was entirely computer-generated. Along the line, Paramount Pictures decided to finance his dream, turning an independent film into a blockbuster production.

And what a production it is. Like a mad scientist, Conran lifts set pieces and sequences from the best stories of decades past, stitching and massaging the numerous sources into one cohesive whole that is simultaneously familiar yet fresh. Nostalgic but polished, Sky Captain handles like an old Max Fleischer Superman cartoon, right down to the reporter love-interest. The futuristic technologies of the robots are bright and streamlined, the complicated and unimportant inner workings hidden behind broad sheets of flawless steel. Every shot is color treated and softened until it resembles a faded, grainy film print. Retaliation against the robots is shown with bold, iconic silhouettes of machine gun fire. Even the antagonist Dr. Totenkopf is played by former screen legend Sir Laurence Olivier (who's been dead for more than a decade!).

But the source of the film's charm its most apparent fault are one and the same: its reliance on the classic stories, both real and fictional. The Empire State Building could be mistaken for the real one in New York, until a zeppelin (the Heindenburg III) docks near the spire. Polly's narration of the advancement of the robots on Gotham City is an easy homage to War of the Worlds. Even the monstrous lizard-like silhouette in the photograph of a Japanese skyline hints at a continuous world shared by these narratives. The movie positively soaks in the juices of its predecessors.

While this self-awareness works from a visual and audible sense, it causes the narrative to falter a bit. From the proper perspective, one might forgive the fairly straightforward the plot: good guy fights bad guy, love interest falls for protagonist, the hero saves his buddy and then gets saved by buddy, scheming evildoers chew the scenery over the obligatory menacing chord. From a general view, the lack of twists and unforeseeable dramatic moments can be disappointing. By the end of the movie, the audience is so antsy for a surprise that they would wholeheartedly endorse a supporting character, any of them, in stabbing our hero in the back.

Thankfully, the crisp dialogue and favorable acting go a long way towards making the movie enjoyable. On her own, Gwyneth Paltrow (as Polly Perkins) is somewhat flat. It is all too apparent that she's delivering her lines on an empty stage in front of a blue screen. Something in her chemistry with her Talented Mr. Ripley co-star Jude Law (Joe "Sky Captain" Sullivan) brings her delivery above standard. Law does his own character justice, equal parts competent, loyal, tested and dashing. The conversations between former sweethearts Perkins and Sullivan ripple with palpable tension.

Likewise, Giovanni Ribisi (Boiler Room, Saving Pvt. Ryan) delivers a solid performance as Dex Dearborn, so much so that it feels like the character is constantly being held back and never given a proper moment to shine. But surprisingly it is Angelina Jolie (Tomb Raider; Girl, Interrupted) who steals the scene. Potentially a cliche character, Franky Cook is instead a strong female lead, formidable for her talents and, while attractive, never a cheesecake "bad girl." One wonders what might have been had Jolie been given more scenes to work with.

The anachronisms of Sky Captain are its most distinguishing features. A movie so intent on mimicking movie serials that scenes and pacing wraps neatly into fifteen minute segments. For many, it's a great romp in the history of (fictional) scientific adventuring. For more, it's just a pretty-looking popcorn movie. There are far worse movies to spend money on and few as potentially eye-opening. The future of the film depends on those with an appreciative eye on the past.

3.5 (out of 5)
This movie is Rated PG