Disclaimer: Contains spoilers!
Plot Summary: When giant robots begin to attack cities all over the world, it's up to Sky Captain to save the day!
Review: This is a hard movie to review since it was basically made for an audience that doesn't exist. The visuals are certainly a draw for those that appreciate filmmaking itself, however, the story is a simplistic action-adventure intended to imitate Golden Age comics, radio shows, and film serials. Most people, myself included, are nowhere near old enough to have experienced any of those things firsthand during their zenith. Don't get me wrong, not having the working knowledge doesn't mean you can't enjoy "Sky Captain," it just means the average moviegoer was never going to see the initial appeal.
The good: the "futuristic" version of the 1930s was a cool concept. In fact, it would have been awesome had they simply set the film in modern times but implied the 1930s aesthetics never ended. Nevertheless, the visual designs were spot-on representations of how media of this era would depict sci-fi--from the clunky robots to the ray gun to the nosy reporter. I especially loved how radio waves are shown to be almost magical in the way that computers could do pretty much anything in '80s fiction. While I didn't think the actors were the best picks for their roles, they were basically fair representations of the time; I guess it's mostly Jude Law that should have been replaced with someone less pretty boy and more square-jawed every man. The usage of a mad genius with an over the top, take over the world scheme was also perfect. It's hard to properly express the positives since the filmmakers captured the era's visuals, its tone, its characters, and the sensibilities so damn accurately; the ultimate tribute.
The bad: First off, that title is terrible and a mouthful. Yeah, it has that cornball vibe to it that you could imagine on a comic book cover, but movies with ridiculous titles are notorious for bombing. I understand that it was going to be nearly impossible to create a movie like this without CGI, yet, did it need to be this extreme of a degree? There are ways this could have been accomplished with practical effects--easily masked effects due to the sepia coloring. The most important detractor is the basic and hallow story which lacks any true twists or turns--we just jump from adventure setting to adventure setting. There were also lots of stupid little things that bothered me like calling World War I, well, World War I. No one called it that until much later when there was actual context to refer to it as the first world war. Or something as stupid as CONSTANTLY cutting to Penny's camera to show the audience how many shots she had left. We get it! And the joke was dumb from the start. I don't know, this just a sense of boredom within the film itself.
Overall, "Sky Captain" is actually a pretty good movie and especially enjoyable if you have an appreciation for the era the filmmakers are recreating. Unfortunately, the casual audience viewer isn't going to understand the point and will likely be unimpressed by the generic story line. Sure this movie is probably 75% style to 25% substance, but I wouldn't sell it that short. There are still flaws present, however, those can be overlooked readily. I think what would have really made this an experience would be if the filmmakers spent more time building up the mystery and added a twist or two rather than playing it completely by the book. Yes, you want to be faithful, but at least know the audience you're trying to reach. With that said, I can see this growing significantly more popular in the future once the right audience discovers it.
Notable Moment: When Gwyneth Paltrow gets knocked the fuck out! About damn time someone shut her up.
Final Rating: 6.5/10
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