SKY CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW

SKY CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW (2004). Director/writer: Kerry Conran.

This is an unfortunate attempt to recreate the excitement and craziness of the old Republic serials with some high-tech effects and computer imagery (so much of it that the movie almost resembles a cartoon). The movie takes place not in the future but circa World War Two, and features a battle between the heroic Sky Captain (Jude Law), a Blackhawk-type mercenary, and the evil Dr. Totenkopf, who attacks New York City with giant robots, and forces scientists to create strange animals (including, inexplicably, an elephant shrunken to the size of a stuffed toy). Totenkopf's plan is to build a space ark that will take his animals off into the cosmos while the Earth itself is vaporized. Helping Sky Captain is the intrepid reporter Polly Perkins (Gwyneth Paltrow) and – in what amounts to a bit – female pilot Franky Cook (Angelina Jolie). Giovanni Ribisi is the captain's pal and associate Dex, who is kidnapped at one point. Although there are some fine FX and interesting scenic design and a few exciting moments (including the climax on the space ark) Sky Captain is never as entertaining as any of those old Republic serials, and both continuity and story are stilted, to say the least. Law is better in the heroic part than one would imagine, and Paltrow is also good as his partner-in-peril. The tongue-in-cheek script has some amusing moments, but after awhile its cliches become wearisome. In an improbable bit of stunt casting “Sir Laurence Olivier” is billed as Dr. Totenkopf, although the character turns out to be dead and is only seen as a withered corpse. Did the producers use Lord Olivier's voice? Who cares? Nothing could make this production particularly memorable.

Verdict: As expected, there were no sequels. *1/2.