This imaginative spectacular of retro-futuristic adventure and mind-boggling special effects so perfectly captures the silly sci-fi wonder of 1930s-era serials that watching it doesn't provoke a modern reaction of "wow!" or "cool!", so much as a genuine, awestruck "golly!" A true matinee marvel, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow is cinematically breathtaking, with sepia-toned semi-color photography, swooping Orson Welles-worthy camera angles, top-secret floating air fortresses, and propellered fighter planes battling giant robots in the skyscraper canyons of Depression-era Manhattan. But what's all the more amazing is that, beyond the actors and a few props, nothing on the screen--not city sidewalks, nor interiors of cars, nor film-noir-shaded sets--is real. First-time writer-director Kerry Conran spent 10 years creating the photo-realistic CGI world in which swashbuckling daredevil pilot Jude Law comes to the rescue when riveted-steel six-story robots attack, leading to a globetrotting quest involving secret islands, evil plans, rocket ships, and a plucky girl reporter played by Gwyneth Paltrow. Like the low-budget serials that informs its story and style, the film has its plot holes and other imperfections (an overkill finale, unintentionally abrasive banter between the leads). But they cannot diminish the way Conran recaptures the thrilling, anything's-possible air of the genre the film emulates. Recommended. [Note: Available in either widescreen or full screen versions, DVD extras include two audio commentaries (one by producer Jon Avnet; the other by writer-director Kerry Conran, production designer Kevin Conran, animation supervisor Steve Yamamoto, and visual effects supervisor Darin Hollings), the two-part “Brave New World” making-of documentary (40 min. total), the eight-minute featurette “The Art of World of Tomorrow,” the six-minute original short (the basis of Sky Captain), two deleted scenes (5 min. total), a three-minute gag reel, and trailers. Bottom line: an excellent extras package for one of 2004's most technically dazzling films.] (R. Blackwelder)
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
Paramount, 106 min., PG, VHS: $31.99, DVD: $29.99, Jan. 25 Volume 20, Issue 1
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
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