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Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
(2004 Film)
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Sky Captain and
the World of Tomorrow (2004): I love this movie!
Anyone can see it...young kids...big people, etc. It's definitely
a throwback to 1940s-era sci-fi stories and superhero comics.
There are even countless references to old heroes like Buck Rogers and
Captain Marvel "Shazam!". You can also see that it's a play on
the action movies of the time period, but definitely above and beyond
old movie serials and things in special effects, acting quality, and
overall action.
The idea of the character "Sky Captain" is tastefully campy. The name is a bit hokey, but it just sets the stage that this is supposed to be a period adventure. And although he doesn't have super powers, he does have a secret identity of sorts: his alias. He also has special talents that most people don't have in the way of flying planes and fighting. And the odds against him are overwhelming like any true superhero. All kinds of robots and flying machines and strange electronically-powered devices are against him. What you'll see in this movie will blow you away!
Sky Captain is a mercenary-for-hire...a superhero that people call on when needed. He has his own team of fighter pilots, his own island headquarters, and all kinds of state-of-the-art gadgetry thanks to his technical genius Dex. What I want to know is how do they explain having technology better than we have today back then, and not being able to win WWII in less than four years? Hmm. Interesting.
We first see Sky Captain when he's called in to save the city from giant mechanical monsters. These mechanical monsters are ripoffs of the characters created for a 1941 Superman cartoon called "The Mechanical Monsters". That cartoon, however, is public domain so I guess the makers of this movie had free reign on the idea. The mechanical monsters in this movie are also much larger, but they look just about the same.
The whole plot of the movie is that Sky Captain and friends are trying to find whoever is behind a sinister plan to destroy the world before it's too late. If you haven't seen it yet, the plot twists WILL surprise you. This movie is not predictable by any means.
I think the entire cast for this movie is wonderful. However, you wouldn't expect any of these people (except maybe Jolie) to be in a movie with so much action. Jude Law is Sky Captain, Gwyneth Paltrow is famous newspaper reporter Polly Perkins, Giovanni Ribisi is Dex, and Angelina Jolie is Captain Franky Cook. For this movie, Angelina Jolie got third billing under Law and Paltrow, but you don't really see much of her in this film. And what you do see of her doesn't come until way past the middle of the show. I expected to see more of her in this movie, especially since she plays such an interesting heroine (she wears an eye patch). However, she's a big star so the name credit as a headliner was just smart marketing. Truth be told, we see a lot more of Giovanni Ribisi than we do Angelina Jolie.
I've been a fan of Ribisi's for years, since he appeared in the 1991 TV series "Davis Rules". He's done so much in TV and movies, and I like everything I've seen him in. He always manages to play really cool characters even if they're not always main characters. I think Dex is important in this movie, because Sky Captain wouldn't be anywhere without him.
The action is intense in this movie and you will have to see it more than once if you really want to catch it all. Things that happen in the story don't always make a lot of sense, but keep in mind that this movie is supposed to be more of a visual. The acting is solid. Plus, this movie earns the distinction of being probably the first movie that is almost entirely computer-generated with a live-action cast. Just about everything in this movie except the people and the costumes is fake...but it all looks so real! It's impressive as a technical achievement and at the same time a very enjoyable film that will hold up for all of time. There aren't many movies made that will have the staying power of this film. This will be good forever!
The idea of the character "Sky Captain" is tastefully campy. The name is a bit hokey, but it just sets the stage that this is supposed to be a period adventure. And although he doesn't have super powers, he does have a secret identity of sorts: his alias. He also has special talents that most people don't have in the way of flying planes and fighting. And the odds against him are overwhelming like any true superhero. All kinds of robots and flying machines and strange electronically-powered devices are against him. What you'll see in this movie will blow you away!
Sky Captain is a mercenary-for-hire...a superhero that people call on when needed. He has his own team of fighter pilots, his own island headquarters, and all kinds of state-of-the-art gadgetry thanks to his technical genius Dex. What I want to know is how do they explain having technology better than we have today back then, and not being able to win WWII in less than four years? Hmm. Interesting.
We first see Sky Captain when he's called in to save the city from giant mechanical monsters. These mechanical monsters are ripoffs of the characters created for a 1941 Superman cartoon called "The Mechanical Monsters". That cartoon, however, is public domain so I guess the makers of this movie had free reign on the idea. The mechanical monsters in this movie are also much larger, but they look just about the same.
The whole plot of the movie is that Sky Captain and friends are trying to find whoever is behind a sinister plan to destroy the world before it's too late. If you haven't seen it yet, the plot twists WILL surprise you. This movie is not predictable by any means.
I think the entire cast for this movie is wonderful. However, you wouldn't expect any of these people (except maybe Jolie) to be in a movie with so much action. Jude Law is Sky Captain, Gwyneth Paltrow is famous newspaper reporter Polly Perkins, Giovanni Ribisi is Dex, and Angelina Jolie is Captain Franky Cook. For this movie, Angelina Jolie got third billing under Law and Paltrow, but you don't really see much of her in this film. And what you do see of her doesn't come until way past the middle of the show. I expected to see more of her in this movie, especially since she plays such an interesting heroine (she wears an eye patch). However, she's a big star so the name credit as a headliner was just smart marketing. Truth be told, we see a lot more of Giovanni Ribisi than we do Angelina Jolie.
I've been a fan of Ribisi's for years, since he appeared in the 1991 TV series "Davis Rules". He's done so much in TV and movies, and I like everything I've seen him in. He always manages to play really cool characters even if they're not always main characters. I think Dex is important in this movie, because Sky Captain wouldn't be anywhere without him.
The action is intense in this movie and you will have to see it more than once if you really want to catch it all. Things that happen in the story don't always make a lot of sense, but keep in mind that this movie is supposed to be more of a visual. The acting is solid. Plus, this movie earns the distinction of being probably the first movie that is almost entirely computer-generated with a live-action cast. Just about everything in this movie except the people and the costumes is fake...but it all looks so real! It's impressive as a technical achievement and at the same time a very enjoyable film that will hold up for all of time. There aren't many movies made that will have the staying power of this film. This will be good forever!