Sky Captian And The World Of Tomorrow (2004)

science fiction action
directed by : Kerry Conran
featuring : Jude Law - Gwyneth Paltrow - Angelina Jolie - Giovanni Ribisi - Michael Gambong
running time : 1 hour 47 minutes
Directed by Kerry Conran, Sky Captain And The World Of Tomorrow revolves around the mysterious disappearance of some of the world's most revered scientists. When an investigation is launched, Polly Perkins (Gwyneth Paltrow), reporter for the prestigious Chronicle, and Sky Captain (Jude Law), resident flying ace, are at the forefront of the case. Though the mission's perks include traveling around the world, the stout-hearted duo are nonetheless risking their lives with each passing moment, as the culprit is none other than the nefarious Dr. Totenkopf, and his goal, from what they can gather, is to destroying the earth in its entirety. Luckily, Sky Captain and Polly are not alone Franky Cook (Angelina Jolie), the commander of an all-female amphibious squadron, and Dex (Giovanni Ribisi), an unparalleled technical genius, have joined them in hopes of saving the planet before it's too late.

Sky Captain is what having a good time at the movies is all about. It's funny and exciting, packed with the kind of gee-whiz awe that rarely makes it to the big screen. Refreshingly, it does so without one bit of camp or irony in its bones. Hearkening back to the sci-fi pulp of the '40s, the film's look is a living and breathing homage to everything from Max Fleisher's Superman cartoons to Flash Gordon serials. The visual world that director Conran and his production designer/brother Kevin meticulously realized is one where the imagination of yesteryear is translated through the help of modern technology into a magical place where big robots and jetpacks reign supreme. Though the groundbreaking painterly effects define Sky Captain's world, it's the characters who populate it that pull it all together. While Law and Paltrow don't exactly make movie duo legends, they revel in their cute banter and frankly do an extraordinary job interacting with sets that were never there. Too often supporting roles in adventure films are made to be broad comic fodder, but here Ribisi takes a subtle turn as the sidekick and it works, as does Jolie, whose tough British sneer chews up the screen charmingly well. On the downside, the characters don't exactly leave a lasting impression, as do most of the set pieces after the bravura first act still, Sky Captain is an impressive start out of the gate for first-timer Conran, who gets to live out his dream here, viscerally satisfying audiences in a way that even the Hollywood heavyweights have a hard time delivering these days. If this marks a beginning in how technology is figured into moviemaking, you would hope that people would not just look at how they made it, but why it was made in the first place.