Seen: Sky Captain and the World Of Tomorrow
[IMDB]
A German scientist, arriving in New York on board the maiden flight of the Hindenburg III, disappears without trace - but not before passing on a briefcase to be delivered to an old colleague. Just as reporter Polly Perkins starts to follow leads and piece together the clues to his disappearance, giant robots invade the city. Can Polly, together with her old flame, "Sky Captain" Joe Sullivan, save the day?
Sky Captain starts in an alternate 1939-ish world of airships, fighter planes and derring-do. Then they throw in the giant robots, ray guns, insanely OTT aerobatics and enough gadgets to make "Q" division envious. It's a 1930s-1950s Boy's Own comic book. On the Big Screen. In glorious not-quite-black-and- white-well-sort-of-colour. Or something.
While the all-CGI visuals occasionally jar, it's worth it - this film looks like nothing else you've ever seen. Except, maybe, in the pages of The Eagle - but this version moves. The exposition is a little patchy, with bursts of running around followed by quick info-dumps, but there's enough sheer energy to keep the whole thing fizzing along in grand style.
The script is sprinkled with little flashes of wit between the leads (usually arriving just in time to avert a looming cliché or cloying sentimentality) and there are unobtrusive little (or not so little) references to other movies scattered all over the place.
calatrice and I emerged from the cinema with stupid great grins on our faces. Fabulous.
[Aside: the IMDB lists writer/director Kerry Conran's next project as an adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs' "A Princess Of Mars".
He's mad. Quite mad. Though probably in a good way.]
A German scientist, arriving in New York on board the maiden flight of the Hindenburg III, disappears without trace - but not before passing on a briefcase to be delivered to an old colleague. Just as reporter Polly Perkins starts to follow leads and piece together the clues to his disappearance, giant robots invade the city. Can Polly, together with her old flame, "Sky Captain" Joe Sullivan, save the day?
Sky Captain starts in an alternate 1939-ish world of airships, fighter planes and derring-do. Then they throw in the giant robots, ray guns, insanely OTT aerobatics and enough gadgets to make "Q" division envious. It's a 1930s-1950s Boy's Own comic book. On the Big Screen. In glorious not-quite-black-and- white-well-sort-of-colour. Or something.
While the all-CGI visuals occasionally jar, it's worth it - this film looks like nothing else you've ever seen. Except, maybe, in the pages of The Eagle - but this version moves. The exposition is a little patchy, with bursts of running around followed by quick info-dumps, but there's enough sheer energy to keep the whole thing fizzing along in grand style.
The script is sprinkled with little flashes of wit between the leads (usually arriving just in time to avert a looming cliché or cloying sentimentality) and there are unobtrusive little (or not so little) references to other movies scattered all over the place.
[Aside: the IMDB lists writer/director Kerry Conran's next project as an adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs' "A Princess Of Mars".
He's mad. Quite mad. Though probably in a good way.]
