Movie Review: Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow

Stars: 2 out of 5
Pros: The visuals are impressive

Cons: Everything else

The Bottom Line:

Watch movie today

You'll regret it tomorrow

No substance to it

Proof that Looks Aren't Everything

Don't you hate it when a movie doesn't live up to the hype? I'd heard great things about Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, so I went expecting to be entertained. Heck, some people were heralding it as the next Indiana Jones. Indiana it ain't. An hour and forty-six minutes later, the movie ended and I was highly disappointed.

It's 1939 New York, and reporter Polly Perkins (Gwyneth Paltrow) is working on a story about missing scientists when she finds herself caught up in a giant robot attack on the city. But that's only the beginning. She quickly learns that it's part of an evil plot by German scientist Totenkopf (Laurence Olivier) to take over the world. Reluctantly joining forces with Joe Sullivan, a.k.a Sky Captain (Jude Law), she sets out to discover and foil his plan. Their search will take them around the world and across the path of Franky Cook (Angelina Jolie).

So let's talk about what works. The movie looks amazing. Almost everything you see is fake. The actors are real (well, most of them), but the backgrounds are all CGI settings. Yet as you are sitting there watching, it's easy to forget that minor detail. The movie is trying to evoke the feel of the 1930's and 40's serials, and it does it expertly. Heck, if I didn't know better, I would have said it was filmed back then.

So what doesn't work? Everything else. And I do mean everything.

Let's start with the story. I liked the science fiction meets 1939 setting, but that was about it. The story was boring. I also found it hard to follow. Heck, maybe if I were engaged, I would have followed things better. As it is, the movie is riddled with plot holes.

Then there are the characters. Not one of them was sympathetic. We were supposed to like Polly and Joe, even rooting for them to get together romantically. But I couldn't even bring myself to care for them. Now I'm not saying they weren't likable. The heroes were certainly heroic and the villain despicable. But they seemed like little more then things moved around by the plot. This was driven home to me as I watched them do thing that no sane person would do. When the characters are acting out of character, you know you've got problems in that department.

All this was brought to a head for me with the climax. Our heroes are in trouble. They are about to die and the world will be destroyed. The clock is ticking down. Yawn!

Now let me be clear. I am not blaming the actors. The fact that the characters came off as flat was not their fault. They did the best they could with the poor script they were given. But they had absolutely nothing to work with. Heck, I'm still trying to figure out what these actors were thinking when they took the parts.

In the end, the exciting new visuals and stylish looks weren't enough to save a movie with poor characters and story. Skip Sky Captain and The World of Tomorrow and watch a movie where the writers and director actually created something worth watching.