Sky Captain And The World Of Tomorrow

There's so much style in this retro-futuristic Boy's Own Adventure story that is virtually impossible to see the substance. Which is a great pity because technically it's so well done that one regrets not finding more satisfaction in it. Set in a hyper-real Art Deco-ish interpretation of a future world, it's a stunning mix of computer-generated imagery that amongst it all has Jude Law (Joe "Sky Captain" Sullivan) and Gwyneth Paltrow as his not-quite former girlfriend and plucky reporter Polly Perkins out to best evil genius Dr. Totenkopf (a digitally-manipulated Laurence Olivier).

First-time director Kerry Conran (helped by his brother, Kevin, and sister, Kirsten, responsible for the production design and art direction respectively) has delivered what only a true nerd can, an obsessive preoccupation with detail in an area that most adults have long since abandoned for more grown-up pursuits, the world of classic comics, and has done it with sustained flair. The trouble is that there is so much detail, so many knowing references to the history of representations of future worlds that there is no opportunity for any kind of dramatic dynamic to develop.

Spielberg, unencumbered by so much technological wizardry, managed to get it right with the comparable Raiders Of The Lost Ark (1981), however in Conran's synthetic, virtual world of tomorrow there is simply nothing real for the audience to engage with (all the acting was done against blue screens) and the pace is so frenetic that one can never see it as anything but as a humungous fairground ride.

As an exercise in visual style and computer-generated film-making Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow is breath-taking. If only the makers had given more attention to the story, dramatically it might have engaged us. It remains its director's one and only feature film.

 

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