Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
for sequences of stylized sci-fi violence and brief mild language.
Reviewed by: Sheri McMurray
CONTRIBUTOR
| Moral Rating: | Better than Average |
| Moviemaking Quality: |
|
| Primary Audience: | Adults |
| Genre: | Sci-Fi Action Adventure |
| Length: | 1 hr. 47 min. |
| Year of Release: | 2004 |
| USA Release: |
| Featuring | Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie, Casey Affleck, Bai Ling |
| Director |
Kerry Conran |
| Producer | Jon Avnet, Sadie Frost, Jude Law, Marsha Oglesby |
| Distributor |
 Paramount Pictures Corporation, a subsidiary of ViacomCBS |
“Join the Resistance”
Here’s what the distributor says about their film: “Famous scientists around the world have mysteriously disappeared and Chronicle reporter Polly Perkins (Gwyneth Paltrow) along with ace aviator Sky Captain (Jude Law) are on the investigation. Risking their lives as they travel to exotic places around world, can the fearless duo stop Dr. Totenkopf, the evil mastermind behind a plot to destroy the Earth? Aided by Franky Cook (Angelina Jolie), commander of an all-female amphibious squadron, and technical genius Dex (Giovanni Ribisi), Polly and Sky Captain may be our planet’s only hope.”
Sitting in the front row with a bag of popcorn on his lap, the young boy is unable to eat. He sits, eyes wide with wonder, as he literally experiences our hero storming through the villain’s evil snare, rescuing the lovely girl reporter and saving all mankind from extinction. Now, that’s entertainment!
“Sky Captain and The World of Tomorrow” is a beautiful, eerily nostalgic glide through the wonderland of true Saturday afternoon matinee serial adventure. Even if you were way too young to have been a part of this glorious childhood ritual of days gone by, you will know exactly how it felt to be riveted in your theater seat as the valiant Sky Captain (Jude Law at his swash-buckling best) rescues Polly Perkins (a determined, courageous Gwyneth Paltrow) and the rest of the world from the evil Dr. Totenkopf (played by Laurence Olivier, who though he died in 1989 is seen here through old shots recycled into this new film) the mysterious mastermind behind a plot to destroy the Earth.
No hero is an island and Sky Captain, or Joe as his close friends like to call him, is aided by his best pals Dex (Giovanni Ribisi who just happens to be a technical genius) and beautiful Frankie Cook (an absolutely competent eye-patched Angelina Jolie) who is the commander of an all female squadron of amphibious fighters. The Captain has a secret “thing” for iron willed reporter Polly, and she for him, but much to the audience’s delight neither one seems to know it. They banter back and forth through the movie as in the best of the rat-a-tat dialogue between male and female in classics like “The Front Page” of 1940.
New York is being bombarded by mysterious giant robots and it seems the English, French and German population has a few mysterious killer robots of their own. The world puts a call out for Sky Captain to eradicate them of these evil Art Deco colossus! Meanwhile the world’s top scientists have been disappearing and Polly’s nose for news has found they are all from a secret circle pulled together before World War II known as “Unit 11.”
Polly and Sky Captain track down a Dr. Jennings who has tipped off Polly that he will be the next to go. They wind up in his “Frankenstein-esque” office/lab only to find he is dead and an equally mysterious dragon-lady lurking around the file cabinets. While our hero fights off this black capped predator, Polly pockets a couple of sinister looking vials and later is caught red handed with them and is told if the wicked Dr. Totenkopf gets his hands on them, the countdown to the end of the world will begin! …And, of course, these strange vials do end up in Dr. Totenkopf’s hands.
Golly jeepers! The plot thickens when New York is again besieged by large silver bird-robots and while Sky Captain and Polly are fighting them off in the Captain’s gadget laden fighter plane, Dex is kidnapped by menacing spaghetti armed robots.
Through exciting air fight and undersea battle sequences with amphibious robots, through thrilling pitfalls and twists, Sky Captain, Frankie, Dex and of course newswoman Polly solve the mystery, uncover Dr. Totenkopf’s hidden city, and with just 10 minutes left on the ticking clock, save the remaining scientists and the entire world!
The buzz is that writer/director Kerry Conrad spent 10 years creating this film on his computer. I just hope it won’t take him that long to do a sequel!
The PG rating is appropriate. I would caution parents that this film is for kids 10 and up. Little ones may be scared by the giant robots and fast paced, stylized violence of the fighter sequences. Even though the robots of all kinds are all sci-fi type Art Deco, young minds will not be able to differentiate between real and computer generated. There is only one utterance of “da**” in this film and all other mild language is of the “Shazaam” type explicative of the 1930 and 1940 serial adventures. This movie remained innocent and squeaky clean with no nudity or sex. There are references to Moses and the animals going into the arc two-by-two. The vials that are a key factor in the evil Dr.’s destruction of the world are called an “Adam and Eve” type of concoction stewed up by the scientists, against their will of course. I didn’t find these references repulsive, as the characters viewed this as a sick dream of the evil Dr. Totenkopf’s and righted all wrongs in the end, giving the respect back to God and us as His creation that no man has the right to tamper with.
Christian themes abound, as is common of these idealized versions of sci-fi fantasies of the 1930’s. The hero is gallant and above any kind of unrighteous act. He treats women with awe and respect. The friendships go beyond helping each other out to willing to give their lives for one another. There is a definite difference between evil and good, which is refreshing in this day of super heroes who are just as evil as the bad guy, blurring the line between good and bad. I was just thrilled to see a hero that can be used as a modern day role model for young and old alike, even though Kerry Conrad had to go back in time to retrieve him.
“Sky Captain and The World of Tomorrow” was done in luscious, dreamy, sepia toned cinematography that is reminiscent of “The Day The Earth Stood Still” mixed with a little of “The Colossus of New York” and the dreamy glowing camera work of “Shanghai Express.” The actors were right on the money for the type of characters they portrayed. The musical score was breathtaking the action heart stopping. This beautifully crafted adventure had it all. We defied the end of the world, found romance, laughed in the face of danger and did it all in less than two hours. It wowed me completely!
Violence: Moderate Profanity: Minor Sex/Nudity: None
Critical remarks: Parental Guidance (PG) is a fair rating. Some mild violence, mostly action. The antithetical biblical end is based in Noah’s flood story. Has one scene where a person is dying of radiation poisoning requests euthanasia. It is only suggested that it was done, it is really left to one’s imagination. There is also a suggested nude scene, again left to one’s imagination. Sexual immorality not being condoned. But the movie does have present the issues of sexual immorality and lying. The story line touches on romance, but doesn’t promote it. The objections I stated here may be beyond small children noticing. But could be more obvious to teens or adults.
[Better than Average/4]
[Better than Average/4]
The characters were last seen fleeing from an exploding radioactive cave and then awake in a plush room covered up to their chins in blankets. It is explained to them that their clothes were contaminated and had to be burned. No nudity was shown, just suggested. In the course of the movie I was never embarrassed or overly alarmed at what my kids were seeing on the screen. As for a critical review of the movie, I can only say that it falls under the “Chewing Gum for the Brain,” category of films. The graphics were amazing and the old time “space opera” feel was reminiscent of the Disney film “Rocketeer” but it was a lot tamer in the violence department and lacked any real romantic theme.
The acting was fair considering the entire movie was filmed using blue-screen; Almost everything seen in the movie besides the human actors is CG. The biggest attraction for this film is that it is a new type of computer generated film. It was enjoyable, but it evoked no real emotional or intellectual response other than “cool effects.”
[Better than Average/3]
[Average/5]
[Better than Average/4]
[Good/2]
[Good/2]
[Better than Average/4½]
[Better than Average/10]
[Better than Average/5]
[Good/5]
[Better than Average/4½]
[Excellent!/5]
[Average/3½]
[Average/1½]
OK, with all of the positive stuff said, I must admit that the acting by some of the characters was less than pleasing, particularly Gwyneth Paltrow in her role as Polly. The fact that she so looks the role of Polly does not negate the fact that she cannot act the part. Angelina Jolie was admirable, but not particularly convincing in her role. The rest of the cast was great, with Jude Law topping them all!
From a Christian perspective, this movie had little to no objectionable material, with only 1 use of the d-word, and a scene in which there are 3 people in a bed nude (none shown), but the scene was innocent, and they are nude for a perfectly good reason (nothing sexual). Overall, you won’t leave this movie feeling any smarter or biblically smarter than when you came in, but it is a thrill ride…
[Better than Average/4½]
[Better than Average/3½]
[Good/1]
My Ratings: [Good/5]