Sky Captain Doesn't Quite Soar

What It's About:

It's 1939 (I assume so, with a scene in a theater playing The Wizard of Oz), in an alternate version of our world in which technology is eerily exactly the same as a serial comic from... the '30s. Huge iron giants invade New York city, and Polly (Gwyneth Paltrow) the reporter is at the scene to investigate.
Just as it seems like Polly is gonna bite the dust underfoot of these invading Iron Giants, Jon 'Sky Captain' Sullivan (Jude Law) comes to the rescue.
Soon, Polly recieves news that the man responsible for the worldwide robot invasion is the mysterious 'Doctor Totenkopf'. Meanwhile, the rest of the world is also being invaded by these robots, and then flying off for no discernable reason.
Polly and Jon's paths have crossed romantically in the past with a not-so-romantic conclusion, but they strike a deal to investigate the reason behind the strange robot invasions together, and seek out the mastermind who is responsible. She gets her story, and he gets the information she's attained.

Review -

There are great things about this movie, and other things that don't quite work so well.
First off, this is a fun one to watch. It's not about being smart; there are plot holes aplenty, it seems as if they can go from one location to another in the blink of an eye... but that's part of the charm of this kind of story! If lack of continuity bothers you, and you don't enjoy fun clean comic action, then I'd say pass on this one.
As you probably already know, the actors are real, but the rest of the world that they exist in isn't. It's virtually all done with CGI. Unlike some (Lucas) directors out there, this movie isn't trying to pass off CGI as reality. Instead, it is embellishing in the beauty of what CGI can accomplish while not trying to make it look completely real.
This has good and bad points. The washed out, nearly black and white coloring became quite an eyesore to me. I was squinting most of the time, and it almost felt like I was getting a headache while watching it.
The action sequences are a blast, and what's even more fun is that it's not gruesome. It's a PG rated action adventure that you can take your kids or Mormon friends to without much fear of freaking them out. It didn't need to have a stronger rating, either. You get plenty of bang for your buck with Sky Captain flying every which way through the streets of New York with gusto to spare.
Law did a great job as the lead, but I've never been a fan of Paltrow. In every movie I've seen her in, she has never had much charisma, has no sparkle to her delivery, and I don't find her that attractive; but it didn't ruin the fun to be had between the two of them.
Angelina Jolie (Jon's 'Fly Buddy') and Giovanni Ribisi ('Dex' The Science Genius Inventer) didn't have much screen time, but they were fun when they had it. The jokes are actually funny, and there are a lot of small nods to other fun action movies that this one seems to be inspired by. Near the beginning Polly says something to the effect of, "You know that I'm a cautious girl" which reminded me of the line in Raiders of the Lost Ark that goes, "Besides, you know what a cautious fellow I am." There are a lot of planes flying over maps much like in Raiders... A floating plane in a murky bog with an unseen sea creature just below the surface a la Empire Strikes Back (Degobah), as well as many other instances similar to this which helped elevate the entertainment level for me.
It was fun seeing the looks that Jon and Polly made to each other, and the jabs they made were light hearted and amusing throughout.
I really liked the name of Jon Sullivan's plane (you can read it during the bog scene, right after the underwater battle. That's cute), and Polly's small hints at still being attracted to Jon are fun to observe.
What did I not enjoy about Sky Captain? Well, other than the aforementioned weak casting of Paltrow and the headache inducing washed-out look (but they get props for originality), I didn't like the soundtrack. It was too generic and uninspiring to my liking. It's not that it didn't fit within the context of the story, which would have been some really bad news bears. It made itself heard at times when it shouldn't have, and the Sky Captain leitmotif wasn't very good.
Bai Ling was underused as the mystical assassin who controls the invading robots. She had little screen time, you couldn't really see her face or her body (but that's ok about the body bit, because lately she's been looking sickly thin), and the final scene with her in it wasn't all that exciting.
I can't harp too heavily on Sky Captain's storyline because it delivers the flavor they were looking for.
Yo, Polly, we KNOW you have only '2 pictures left'! Enough with the constant reminder already!!
Overall I had a fun time with Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, and I recommend it for anyone looking for some brainless popcorn fun.
Certainly flawed, but you could do a lot worse these days!
PS: The final line before credits role is classic! There could not be a better finish!

Grade: C

Reviewed: 9/24/04