Sky Captain & The World Of Tomorrow | REVIEW

It's always cool when someone does something that's different and relatively unique when compared to other mediocre movies. Sky Captain & The World Of Tomorrow is one of those movies. It's not really unique in the sense that others have resorted to concepts like this before and thereafter, but it's unique in the sense that it dares to be different. Directed by Kerry Conran, the film is set in an alternative 1939 and follows the adventures of reporter Polly Perkins (Gwyneth Parltrow) and "Joe" aka "Sky Captain" (Jude Law) as they travel across the world to stop the evil Dr.Totenkopf. The film itself has been Kerry Conran's pet project since 1994 as an effort to break into the industry by producing an independent short. Using miniatures and simple toys that were shot against bluescreen, Conran took four years to actually complete the original Sky Captain short. The final result was a black & white 'teaser' that resembled something out of the early 40's. He was later funded to make a feature length film using the same ideas and concepts.

There's nothing much to the story of Sky Captain. It's a basic adventure story similar to that of Indiana Jones. Nothing complicated, nothing deep, but very appealing and fun to watch. It's a casual movie that will fit well for any movie fan...something that you could rent and watch on any given day. The film has a talented cast which makes it all the more pleasing to watch because there's no bad acting.

What's really impressive about Sky Captain is that it's one of the first major films to be shot entirely on a "digital backlot", very similar to Sin City, Able Edwards, Casshem, and Immortal. The theme of the movie makes it different. It has a sephia-esque tone throughout and as I mentioned before, is set in an alternate 30's era so there's a completely different style to it in regards of wardrobe and certain attire and types of vehicles. These are the movies that set themselves apart from the rest and become instant classics. It's not as popular as Sin City or 300 or even the upcoming Frank Miller project, The Spirit, but that doesn't mean it's not worth a peek. And I'm sure that peek will extend into a near-2 hours and in the end, you'll find that it was a worthwhile flick. To date, I've heard almost no complaints about Sky Captain, excluding the one or two that said the visuals sucked. I agree, the 3D and CGI isn't as impressive as some of the recent blockbusters, but cut the film some slack! Here's a film that started its early 3D work even before the new millennium, so it's crazy to even expect Iron Man-ish visuals in there. In fact, their efforts look pretty effin' sweet on screen if you ask me. Sure, some (or barely noticeable) bad 3D here and there...get past it and it's an incredible ride. It all boils down to passion, I guess. Kerry Conran had an undying passion about finishing this this flick since 19-friggin'-94 and in the end, his brainchild turned out to be a very entertaining movie.
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Wrap : Sky Captain & The World Of Tomorrow gets a solid 3.8 stars out of 5, for being different, entertaining and worthwhile. It's also a film that I could watch more than once and would still enjoy it the next several times. Is the DVD worth it? Yes, because there's a ton of extras there that will show you how this baby was made. Then there's YouTube, too. ....... Anyway, nice movie. Check it out, ladies & gents.