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Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
USA / UK / Italy 2004
produced by Jon Avnet, Marsha Oglesby, Jude Law, Sadie Frost, Aurelio De Laurentiis (executive), Raffaella De Laurentiis (executive), Bill Haber (executive) for Brooklyn Films II, Riff Raff, Blue Flower, Filmauro/Paramount
directed by Kerry Conran
starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law, Angelina Jolie, Giovanni Ribisi, Michael Gambon, Bai Ling, Omid Djalili, Laurence Olivier (archive footage), Trevor Baxter, Julian Curry, Peter Law, Jon Rumney, Khan Bonfils, Samta Gyatso, Louis Hilyer, Mark Wells, James Cash, Tenzin Bhagen, Thupten Tsondru, Matthew Grant, Stephe Morphew, Nancy Crane, Stuart Milligan
written by Kerry Conran, music by Ed Shearmur, digital effects supervisor and animation director: Steve Yamamoto, visual effects supervisors: Scott E.Anderson, Darin Hollings, visual effects by Gentle Giant Studios, Stan Winston Digital, Rising Sun Pictures, The Orphanage, ILM, Hybride Technologies, CafeFX, Pixel Liberation Front, Pacific Title and Art Studio, Riot, Ring of Fire, Luma Pictures, Gray Matter FX
review by Mike Haberfelner
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New York, circa 1938: The city is repeatedly attacked by giant robots
while someone is killing off leading scientists who were involved with a
top secret German research program at the end of World War I headed by a
mysterious Doctor Totenkopf. And while Sky Captain Joe (Jude Law) - who
has a private island complete with landing strips, hangars and a gang of
pilots at his disposal - is the only one able to defend the city against
the robot attacks, journalist Polly Perkins (Gwyneth Paltrow) is the only
one who has at least some clues leading to Totenkopf. And when Joe's
inventor friend Dex (Giovanni Ribisi) is abducted by Totenkopf's men, the
two of them just have to team up to save him - and probably save the world
in the process. Thing is, Joe and Polly are ex-lovers, and now they can't
agree on anything much and are bickering pretty much all of the time ...
Eventually, their search takes Joe and Polly to Tibet, where they are
almost blown to pieces in an uranium mine, then to a secret island in the
middle of the pacific - a trip they are almost unable to finish due to
lack of fuel, wasn't it for commander Franky (Angela Jolie in a
surprisingly unglamorous role) and her flying platform, who ultimately
escorts Joe and Polly to Totenkopf's secret island and saves their lives
when they have to fight a robot guard underwater (naturally, Sky Captain's
as well as Franky's planes are also submarines).
Once on the island, freeing Dex is not the problem - actually, he turns
up quite freed and it's never explained why -, but saving the world is: It
seems Totenkopf has built himself an ark to, pretty much like Noah, fly
two specimens of every kind of animal to some other planet while blowing
up the world as we know it ... and the countdown for the ark is already
on. The only man who can save the world now is Totenkopf himself, thing
is, he died 20 years ago and since his robots have taken over operations.
Now the only way to save the world is from inside of the rocket - which is
supposed to take off in a minute and is guarded by a mysteriuos woman
robot (Bai Ling) ... and for whoever gets into the rocket to sabotage it,
there is no way back - but still, united, Joe and Polly overcome the woman
robot, get inside the rocket just in time, jettison all the animals, blow
up the rocket and find an escape pod just in time ...
And in the end, not only is the world saved but also Joe and Polly have
fallen in love all over again ...
By the way, Totenkopf, who has died 20 years ago, is played in the few
snippets in which we see him by Laurence Olivier, an actor who has also
been dead for 15 years when this film was made.
If you are a sucker for vintage science fiction and aerial serials from
the 1930's and 40's (e.g. King Kong,
Ace Drummond, The
Adventures of Smilin' Jack, to randomly pick a few) like I am, you
will probably like this film for its retro-futuristic looks, its often
old-fashioned direction, its over-simplistic story and its attention for
detail.
That said, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow is also far
from great, first and foremost its once again the over-reliance on
CGI-effects that are not really up to the task of bringing the story of
the film to life and quite often look so terribly artificial that one
can't help but wondering why they didn't use much cheaper miniature
effects. Can someone tell these effects-men that the technology, while
quite impressive is not up to the task to carry a movie yet, please ? Then
there's the overkill of references to above mentioned films and serials of
old that pretty much kills off any new idea the film might ahve
transported. In my view, hommages are ok, but leave at least some room for
originality. And last but not least there's the orchestral score by Ed
Shearmur, that not only lacks any new ideas, it also is so underwhelming
that it robs many an action scene of its dramatic impact.
All in all, like me you might love the film for its visuals ... but
don't expect too much else, ok ?
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