“Sky Captain” Isn’t Indiana Jones

A mad scientist, giant robots, dinosaurs and a mysterious woman in black combine in “Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow” in a film that isn’t quite a cliché because it pays tribute to so many all at once. Looking like the 1930s sci-fi/adventure serials as filmed by Ridley Scott in his “Blade Runner” phase, the movie stars Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie and, fifteen years after his death, Lord Laurence Olivier. It’s not a great movie, but it is fun trying to guess what the next cliché will be.

Ms. Paltrow plays Polly Perkins, a newspaper reporter working on a story of vanishing German scientists in a reality where World War II hasn’t happened (yet?). Before long, Manhattan is attacked by giant robots, and only Sky Captain H. Joseph Sullivan, played by Mr. Law, can save the day in his Spitfire-like plane. Naturally, these two used to be lovers. The tale takes them to Nepal (Shangri-La – shades of Harrison Ford) in search of a made scientist named Tottenkopf (death’s head for those whose German is a bit dodgy).

They are saved/helped en route to the madman’s secret island (James Bond) by Captain Frankie Cook (Ms. Jolie) a former flame of Sky Captain’s. She commands a British flying air base – that is an aircraft carrier help aloft by really big propellers. After sneaking past the islands defenses, they encounter dinosaurs resurrected during Tottenkopf’s experiments. And of course, there is a rocket ship filled with two of everything ready to blast off, and when it does, the world gets incinerated. Naturally, the day is saved by Sky Captain, and his pals.

Lord Olivier appears largely in holographic form in the film, using old footage suitably cut. And at the end, when the good guys come face to face with him, there is nothing but a mummified corpse, as Tottenkopf died in 1918. While it is surprising that the estate of the late Larry let this happen, it must give the actors a thrill to put on their resumes that they worked with the greatest actor of the 20th century.

First time director Kerry Conran has produced a movie so amazingly filmed that he is sure that the audience will go along with every prank. The careful use of color, much of it washed out like old film, the wise use of computer animation and old-style backdrop photos and some very talented acting makes what could have been a real waste of footage an enjoyable not quite two hours. One just hopes the power that be leave well enough alone and avoid a sequel. Once was good, not great. Twice would be tempting fate.


© Copyright 2004 by The Kensington Review, J. Myhre, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent.


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