SKY CAPTAIN & THE WORLD OF TOMORROW
Dir./Wri. KERRY CONRAN; Music. EDWARD SHEARMUR; Starring. JUDE LAW, GWYNETH PALTROW, ANGELINA JOLIE, GIOVANNI RIBISI, MICHAEL GAMBON, OMID DJALILI, BAI LING, LAURENCE OLIVIER; R.T. 106 mins; 2004, USA
WHAT IT’S ABOUT: Joe Sullivan (Law) is Sky Captain, the commander of an elite private “air force for hire” in a technologically advanced alternative 1939, who flies his modified Curtiss P-40 fighter plane with unparalleled skill while taking on dangerous, dastardly threats all around the world. His latest foe is Totenkopf, a reclusive mad scientist bent on the usual world domination kick, but this new adventure forces him to work side-by-side with his former lover, Polly Perkins (Paltrow), an intrepid reporter for the New York Chronicle with her own stake in solving the mystery and bringing Totenkopf down.
WHY IT’S LOST: This movie was simply ahead of its time, and the cinema-going public just weren’t ready for it yet. It was one of the very first movies shot ENTIRELY on a digital backlot, with only the actors themselves and a few simply props being filmed against blue-screens in (then) near-revolutionary high-def digital in less than a month, before a massive CGI-heavy post production. It was an immensely ambitious undertaking, writer-director Kerry Conran (a largely unknown quantity) managing to wrangle a significant budget (over $70 million) to bring his passion project to life – unfortunately, it failed SPECTACULARLY. While it was critically well-received, the film FOLDED at the box office, earning well under its budget and winding up as one of the year’s most spectacular flops. It’s become a major cult favourite since (and rightly so), but its painful performance meant we were criminally denied the blockbuster series this could have spawned. Most unfortunate of all, Conran has barely worked since – for a time he was attached to direct the John Carter movie, but aside from the odd commercial we haven’t seen anything more from him …
WHY YOU SHOULD DISCOVER IT: It’s a crying shame, because on the evidence of this alone, the boy is a pretty singular talent. Sky Captain was an AWESOME achievement for a first time writer-director, a thrilling, action-packed period sci-fi spectacular that perfectly evokes the spirit of the age it pays homage to, the same Golden Age black-and-white serials like Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon that influenced far more successful elder contemporaries Spielberg and Lucas. The extensive visual effects work is STILL incredibly impressive today, the digital sets, vehicles and environments realised with such consummate skill that it frequently holds up in comparison to the mega-bucks extravaganzas we’re seeing now, and Conran invests everything with an evocative sepia-toned, monochromatic glow that makes the film look like it was made WAY BACK in the silver-screen heyday of its actual setting. He also delivers BIG TIME on the action front, keeping the pace thundering along at breakneck speed with a series of breathlessly exciting chases, punch-ups, dogfights and cliffhanging escapes that could almost put Indiana Jones to shame, while Totenkopf and his hi-tech robotic legions of doom are a gorgeously realised retro delight. Best of all, though, is that there’s as much heart and soul as in any flesh-and-blood production, with strong, well-rounded characters in abundance and an enjoyably old-fashioned, wholesome (but not TOO safe and PC) sense of humour keeping things light and fun. There’s IMMENSE chemistry between the two leads – Jude Law and Gwyneth Paltrow are a compellingly seductive “odd couple”, their powerful will-they-won’t-they vibe setting the screen alight, both displaying the megawatt star power that’s served them so well in the many years since, Law bringing a cocksure swagger to his role that perfectly complements his substantial Errol Flynn-esque action hero potential, while Paltrow is an absolute joy as the acerbic “Girl Friday” constantly putting him in his place even as she keeps getting him into scrapes – while a top-notch ensemble of heavyweight talent provide strong support, in particular a gloriously geeky, wide-eyed turn from Giovanni Ribisi as Joe’s adorable tech-wiz buddy Dex and a typical show-stopper from Angelina Jolie as posh British badass Frankie Cook. It’s a heady, intoxicating ride, and the only downside is the bittersweet pang you get when you realise just what a frustrating missed opportunity this was – just a year later this kind of filmmaking had found its audience with the likes of Sin City, leading to further hits such as 300, so you can’t help thinking that, if this had just come along a little later, life could have turned out very different indeed for Sky Captain … altogether, this is one of the all-time great blockbuster franchises that never happened, brought to life by a mighty creative talent who deserves SO MUCH better.
