Sky Captain and his world
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow is not a gimmick film. Once you take away the novelty of the movie being filmed with ninety-percent (90%) CGI, and the quality of the CGI is amazing, you still have a movie that pays homage to such art as the classic animation of the Max Fleischer - Superman cartoons, the Tim Burton - Batman films and Nick Fury Agent of The Shield.
The movie opens with a breathtaking scene of a gigantic blimp sailing gracefully through a grey-and-blue drenched, snow-dusted New York cityscape to dock delicately at the Empire State Building. The New York Metropolis filtered through 1940s era and pumped up with some World War II pulp fiction pizzazz. The story and the characters inspire the same game of spot the influence. This movie would make a killer drinking game for film buffs.
Blonde with bright red lips Polly Perkins (Gwyneth Paltrow) working at the Chronicle newspaper, she picks up the trail of a story about six famous scientists who have gone missing. She meets Dr Jennings (Trevor Baxter), a scientist who believes he is next in line to disappear. But their meeting is interrupted when a fleet of giant robots invades Manhattan. Enter the dashing aviator Joe Sullivan (Jude Law), aka Sky Captain. The two proceed to bicker in the time-honoured tradition of all equally-matched cinematic couples as they save the world. The villainous mastermind is the grandly named Dr Totenkopf, a genius who has disappeared from public view. During their search, the duo came across flying robots, steel birds, baby elephant, some pre-historic creatures, monks, wanabe villians and super villians - just to name some.
To find him, the heroic duo need the help of Franky Cook (Angelina Jolie, outfitted in classic style black leather and a piratical eye-patch). As a commander with the British military, Cook provides Polly with a romantic rival as well as gives the audience an alternative model of femininity as a tomboy who can match Joe action for courageous action.
And there is plenty of action too, in the style of Saturday movie matinees where ray guns fire circles of light and scientists hatch mind-boggling creations like miniature elephants. The most impressive sequence is an exhilarating aerial dogfight that zips through the skyscrapers of Manhattan as Joe is pursued by flying robots that look like steel bats.
But what will appeal to film buffs are the multiple references. The most entertaining reference is a clip from Judy Garlandīs The Wizard Of Oz playing in the background as Polly meets Dr Jennings in Radio City Music Hall. Insiders will cotton on quickly to what this clip portends for the plot.
The ensemble cast approaches the material with the affection and non-irony that it demands. Law is a perfectly gauged blend of Errol Flynn-athleticism-meets-Cary Grant smoothness.
Still, the eye-candy visual overload and excited fanboy bounce of the storytelling keep things moving along. Sky Captain And The World Of Tomorrow is a modern-day marvel that draws its magic from the past. Pickup the book of the same title by Kevin J. Anderson. Or listen to the Sky Captain And The World Of Tomorrow Soundtrack by Edward Shearmur.
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