| Field | Details |
|---|---|
| Movie Name | Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004) |
| Director | Kerry Conran |
| Writer | Kerry Conran |
| Lead Actor | Jude Law |
| Cast | Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie, Giovanni Ribisi, Michael Gambon, Bai Ling, Omid Djalili, Laurence Olivier (archival footage) |
| Genre | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi |
| Release Date | September 17, 2004 (USA) |
| Duration | 1h 46m (106 minutes) |
| Budget | $70 million USD |
| Box Office | $58 million USD (worldwide) |
| Language | English |
| IMDb Rating | 6.1/10 |
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Realistically this movie maybe only deserves 3 stars out of 5, but I threw in an extra star for having giant robots and for having a look unlike anything I’ve seen before. Full points for art direction.
It took a while to get into this movie. Because it exists in a world unto itself, it takes some getting used to. The first thing that needs adjusting to is the soft-focus glow that everything seems to have. And the second thing needing a warming up to is the campy dialogue and acting. But unlike in other movies where the odd occurrence of these things seem like mistakes, Sky Captain has a cinematic style all of its own, and since everything in it is campy and painterly, it all works.
Jude Law is great as Sky Captain, and plays the swashbuckling hero effortlessly. Gwynneth Paltrow must have taken lessons from the Fleischer Brothers Superman cartoons that this movie stole its look from because as Polly Parker she seems like a carbon copy of Lois Lane the perky reporter who will do anything, even risk her own life, for a scoop. She’s okay, but she doesn’t play the “pesky dame reporter” as knowingly as Jennifer Jason Leigh did in The Hudsucker Proxy.
Rounding out the cast is Angelina Jolie, Giovanni Ribisi, and a risen-from-the-grave Sir Laurence Olivier. Archive footage of Olivier was inserted and manipulated into the movie as its lead villain, and although it was very effective, I couldn’t help but be reminded of a comedy sketch by Montreal comedy troupe Radio Free Vestibule in which snippets of Olivier’s films and plays are stitched together to form a Frankensteinesque advertisement for Coke.
Search for “Radio Free Vestibule” and “Laurence Olivier for Diet Coke” if you’re the filesharing types.
The movie borrows heavily from various predecessors: Star Wars, Indiana Jones, The Wizard of Oz, Buck Rogers… the list goes on. As an homage to moviemaking itself, the film is striking. It’s a shame that it peters out near the end with a fairly Hollywood action ending (and quite possibly the worst version of Over the Rainbow I’ve ever heard).
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