Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
Directed by:
Kerry ConranScreenplay:
Kerry ConranCinematography:
Eric AdkinsComposer:
Edward ShearmurCast:
Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law, Giovanni Ribisi, Michael Gambon, Bai Ling, Omid Djalili, Laurence Olivier (a.f.), Angelina Jolie, Mido Hamada, Mark Wells (more)VOD (1)
Plots(1)
Gwyneth Paltrow stars as intrepid reporter Polly Perkins, who suspects a connection between the mysterious disappearance of many of the world's top scientists, and a recent attack on New York City by giant robots - and decides to investigate. She enlists the help of her former beau, heroic flying ace Joe 'Sky Captain' Sullivan (Jude Law). The two, helped by the dextrous Franky (Angelina Jolie) and technical whiz Dex (Giovanni Ribisi), uncover a plot by mad scientist Dr Totenkopf (Laurence Olivier in archive footage) to create a 'World of Tomorrow' - and destroy the world of today. A race against time begins as our heroes do all they can to save the planet before it is too late. (Paramount Pictures AU)
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Reviews (12)
While the plot is quite thin, and particularly the point fizzles out into nothingness, it's a visually remarkable film that references famous past movies and evokes the atmosphere of cinematic and literary classics of adventure stories. There's a bit of Jules Verne, a touch of Metropolis, and echoes of American sci-fi from the 1930s. Overall impression: 65%.
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A deliberate essence of stupidity. I can’t understand why anyone would want to make something like this and why anyone would want to watch it. As an attempt at naive retro sci-fi it’s successful, as a film for the 21st century viewer is an epic fail. Listening to most of the dialogues felt like slow, painful death; if the film was half an hour longer, I wouldn’t have been able to write this review.
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No matter how I look at Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, it always looks perfect. The actors. The visuals. The retro atmosphere. The funny script and funny dialogues. Ubiquitous fantasy. Shearmur's music. What we have before us is a much underrated gem that combines the adventures of a gentleman named Biggles with the fun of Star Wars and the imagination worthy of Karel Zeman with a nostalgic tear in the corner of the eye. Five and never otherwise.
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Although The World of Tomorrow is playful and its patina of old movies is charming, the flimsy and predictable story cannot be hidden by the most compelling visuals. There were moments when I was actually bored. Even so, Conran's film reminded me a bit of some of Karel Zeman's films with its visual innovation and retro mood. I'm definitely curious about Conran's next project.
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A lot of blinking, lively dialogues, and one big toy that I can't play with. Jude Law is forever a character actor for me, who has nothing in common with a smiling action hero, and the cold Angelina is pure agony this time. The only significant advantage is that something is constantly moving, breaking, or flying on the screen, but in terms of how much was said about the film during its creation and how the creators boasted about it being a historic milestone, it quickly deservedly fell into oblivion.
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Gallery (179)
Photo © 2004 Paramount Pictures
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