Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow

"I don't like it when you smile at me."

"You don't like my smile?"

"I don't like what's behind it!"

In 1939 noted scientists are disappearing without a trace.  Reporter Polly Perkins (Paltrow) is investigating the disappearances and is contacted by renowned scientist Dr. Jennings (Trevor Baxter).  Dr. Jennings claims to know who will disappear next (him) and who is behind the disappearances (Dr. Totenkopf).  Their meeting is broken up by an air raid and the arrival of giant robots.  The police are unable to stop the robots, so they call on Sky Captain (Law).  Sky Captain is an alias for Joe Sullivan is the leader of a legion of flying mercenaries, and he able to drive off the robots.

Polly believes the missing scientists and the robots are linked and teams up with Joe to get answers.  Joe's best friend / tech expert Dex (Ribisi) has been investigating the robots for months and thinks he can track their signal to the source.  When the robots attack the legions headquarters they are able to find the source.  Can Joe and Polly rescue the scientists and save the world?


This film has been on my radar for years.  It is one of the movies mentioned in one of my favorite movie books.  I finally sat down and watched it, and it was not what I was expecting (I thought Angelina Jolie was the villain).

Visually the film is fascinating.  It is highly stylized with a muted color palette.  Everything was shot against a blue screen and everything was computer generated.  The was written and directed by Kerry Conran, an animator in his directorial debut (and his only film at this time).  The technology allowed them to complete filming withing 29 days, while still sending the characters to different locations.  It also gave them the chance to cast Laurence Olivier as the villain, despite the fact that Olivier had been dead for 13 years.  They manipulated archival footage of Olivier to capture his performance.

The story is all over the place.  It is interesting, but too ambitious.  It would be better if they cut back on some of the locations and develop the characters more.  The cast is ok, but don't do much to elevate the material.  Giovania Ribisi is the highlight as Dex.  He is endearing and funny and the best part of the film.  Gwyneth Paltrow's performance is bland and uninspired, and most of the film she is just annoying.  Jude Law is ok, but this is definitely not his best performance.  Angelina Jolie is good in a small role, I wish she was in more of the film.

Worth watching for the visuals, but it could have been much better.

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004) 106 minutes
Director: Kerry Conran
Starring: Jude Law as Sky Captain
Gwyneth Paltrow as Polly Perkins
Angelina Jolie as Commander Franky Cook
Giovanni Ribisi as Dex
Michael Gambon as Editor Paley
Omid Djalili as Kaji
Bai Ling as The Mysterious Woman
Laurence Olivier as Dr. Totenkopf