Movie Review: Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow

I have this best friend, see, and he's a writer to. Damn good one at that. I trust his prose and poetry more than my own. He's got a wry wit and his opinion I trust. A few years ago, we decided to do something stupidly fun. We both wrote down our top ten movies.That's like asking a parent to pick which child should live.We elected to go the other route-picking movies that we personally felt connected to, regardless of the quality. That way, we didn't have the usual textbook answers of Citizen Kane and Streetcar Name Desire ad nauseum. The list became more a inkblot, showing the person who did the viewing.I'm not going to go write that list down right now.For there's been a change.I think I have a new movie to add to my list.Sky Captain is our current decade's Indy movie. But without the purely for profit sequels. This is a what going to the big screen is all about. It is a tale that can only exist on a big screen. I mean, giant robots meancing New York City? No HDTV is going to get you with that. You need to see their size, their heat beam eyes as the height they were meant to shown at.In a movie theatre.In this movie, lovingly shot in experimental sephia tones, you have the usual intrepid reporter, seen a thousand times prior, doing the annoying usual storyline. She's investigating missing scientists--another standard--and then has to be rescued by the dashing hero, the mercernary Sky Captain. Seems there's Evil Afoot, trying to Take Over the World.Yes, we've heard it all before. Heck, we felt this way with Raiders et al.But I didn't mind this time. For some reason, it all made sense. It was as if the ultimate B movie was put up there on the screen. Worlds apart are only a short flight/drive away, clothing stays oddly unwrinkled after harrowing experiences.Yeap, only in the movies.I think the reason I don't mind is that it had all the usual greats tied up into a neat bundle. This was a freshman script, so I suppose my expectations couldn't have been that high. But the film collides with a bit of Tim Burton. In others, if it didn't look this good, you would have lost a large segment of the movie. The costumes are smooth; the photography is this side of having scratches movies. There are no sharp edges. All you needed was the occasionaly accidental string hanging from an airplane and you think you would have been in the 30's. I kept waiting for placard to announce "Tune in next week!"So much praise, I'll have to add it to my list. The drawback? The lead, I'm afraid to say. Luckily, hottie Jude Law is not required to do much. But he's too passive for an action hero. He's got the style and excellence of a Royal--and tends to come off as reflective because of it. Him in an action role? He's not angry enough; his decisions seems to be flown in from somewhere else because of it.But this gripe is small. I mean, it's JUDE LAW, for crissakes. He's like an Abercrombie ad envisioned in real time.The other problem? Why release this now, in the limbo prior to Christmas season and Oscar? Did they really not know how the public would react to such a stylish actioner? That's unfortunate, I really think this could have been a summer blockbuster. We had an excellent cinema summer. It could have been part. Still, it's a nice way to know that sometimes good movies come out in the fall.
A very, very well constructed piece of work. I feel back for the newbie creator. If you start at the top of the heap, where will you go next?
And as for my friend? I’m probably going to have see this movie again with him. I think he might have to revise a list or two himself.