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This is one of those movies I wouldn’t pay to see in the theater but, for free on cable, is hard to pass up. There was plenty of hype from the cast–Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie–and because this is the first time every shot was made in front of a blue screen, with no sets or outdoor locations, all of the scenery filled in by computer like one more class of special effect.
Still, I barely watched to the end of Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow and wouldn’t have if it wasn’t short, under 100 minutes without the final credits, and I wasn’t waiting for the climactic season ending Duke-North Carolina basketball game. Special effects and an Indiana Jones-ish retro-SF style only take you so far; you still have to make a movie, with plot, pacing and acting.
Set in a world that never happened, a 1940s without a World War II as best I can guess, dozens of giant flying robots appear in the skies over Manhattan. Rumbling, stomping through city streets, leaving only after our hero Joe “Sky Captain” Sullivan (Law) shows up in his little fighter and blows up two or three. Meanwhile intrepid gal reporter Polly Perkins (Paltrow) stumbles on a scared German scientist who can only whisper that she must find someone named Totenkopf before dying. Of course they used to be in love, until she betrayed him, and now they’ve got to team up again to save the world.
Jolie shows up about half way in as the commander of some wild secret British flying aircraft carrier–who was Polly’s rival for Sullivan’s affections back in the day–with an eyepatch and a surprisingly bad accent. Giovanni Ribisi, showing he doesn’t always have to act as if the amphetamines were extra strong that day, is the science geek/best buddy and Bai Ling, always covered head to toe in a leather flying suit and goggles, is barely recognizable in a few scenes as the mysterious leader of the robot squads. The only other recognizable name in the cast is Michael Gambon, fresh off his first run as Hogwart’s headmaster Dumbledore, mostly on the other end of the phone as Polly’s editor.
The weirdest thing is that the villian, Totenkopf, is played by the long-dead Sir Laurence Olivier! We only ever see him on strange video screens and I’m not sure the voice is actually Olivier though no one else is credited. The reason for using him is not clear to me at all but Ebert gives it a weak thumbs up.
The problem with Sky Captain is that writer/director Kerry Conran really doesn’t know how to make a movie. I understand that he plotted and planned this film for many years, even spending a few years making a six minute proof of concept that got him studio funding, but producer Jon Avnet–who has directed a number of times himself–should have given Conran much stronger guidance.
not recommended
