Sky Captain and World of Tomorrow Saves the Day but Destroys it too
Carlo Chong (H2B), Stallion Features Writer

Posted Wednesday, 20-Oct-2004 9:28 AM

     In a world filled with hatred and loath, Hollywood seeks to bring its audience out of the gloom and into a world where the good triumph and the evil are defeated.  “Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow” is no exception to this, as it relies on old fashioned techniques and revolutionary visual effects to carry this fairly simple rehash.

     Jude Law stars as the ace aviator Sky Captain and Academy Award winners, Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie, play Chronicle reporter Polly Perkins and English Commander Franky Cook.  In the film, all three struggle to save the day from an evil doomsday mastermind.

     Kerry Conran shines in his directorial feature debut, with stunning imagery and impressive eye candy, but the only thing preventing this unique film from being a classic is a substantial plot.  Conran is a promising director, but he needs to leave the screenplay to someone else.  Featuring dialogue as monotonic as ‘Star Wars,’ ‘Sky Captain’ loses its potency and effectiveness in some key sequences.

     The film is somewhat bland.  Characters are flat and we never find any connection between them, and while the plot departs without a hint of passion, we leave the theater with a sense of indifference.  It’s a conventional take on an overused theme which, oddly enough, remains fresh through all the cinema slapstick and cheese we are treated to week after week.

     If you’re in the mood for an innovative and visually astonishing film, this is definitely the film for you.  On the otherhand, someone who prefers contemporary and mainstream features shouldprobably consider watching the likes of ‘Ladder 49’ and ‘The Bourne Supremacy’ instead.

    In short,  ‘Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow’ is the chocolate syrup over the vanilla ice cream.  Sweet, but definitely not filling.

My Grade: B

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