Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow

Why pretend I'm doing something new when everyone around me is pretending the same thing? Why not admit that everything important has already been done and film a fun and naïve retro with futuristic tricks, endearingly terrible acting performances, the atmosphere of old comic books and the plot of the most hilarious trash? Conran managed to do it really well... His Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow is a well-balanced mix of retro (everything listed above) and modern technical procedures with a special atmosphere of colorized movies, old photos and comics. If there was even more humor and perspective, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow would be almost flawless, closely related to the similarly conceived Indiana Jones trilogy. The way that it is, it is sometimes spoiled by an excessive insight into its own visual perfection and a lack of distance from the triviality of the story. But it still functions as a spectacle, it’s almost a schematic parody, it’s infectiously entertaining, adventurously wild and cheerfully picturesque. Conran and his team’s attempt to achieve retro works on almost all fronts (the editing, acting, directing, soundtrack, artistic stylization) and if you accept it, you will see one of the most entertaining films of this season. Even with all the naivety, it’s much more intelligent than 99% of the adventurous production made in Hollywood. By the way, isn't it symbolic that entering the new visual age of the film is happening through a designer return to the immortal years of the 1920s and 1930s? (05/11/2004)

Although The World of Tomorrow is playful and its patina of old movies is charming, the flimsy and predictable story cannot be hidden by the most compelling visuals. There were moments when I was actually bored. Even so, Conran's film reminded me a bit of some of Karel Zeman's films with its visual innovation and retro mood. I'm definitely curious about Conran's next project. (19/01/2005)

A generously produced fan’s homage to film adventures. It has so many quotes and visual ideas that a day later I’ve already forgotten what it is supposed to be about. I didn’t get bored, for sure, and I admired the boldness of the creators that, notwithstanding the poor quality of the special effects, send the heroes into a relentless series of huge set-pieces, but by the end I was missing a more solid director power and I could no longer bear Gwyneth Paltrow, who has forgotten how to act and whose annoying character destroys the godly Angelina in five minutes. That said, it’s likeable bullshit with a filmmaking soul. 70% (24/01/2019)

A deliberate essence of stupidity. I can’t understand why anyone would want to make something like this and why anyone would want to watch it. As an attempt at naive retro sci-fi it’s successful, as a film for the 21st century viewer is an epic fail. Listening to most of the dialogues felt like slow, painful death; if the film was half an hour longer, I wouldn’t have been able to write this review. (04/08/2010)

No matter how I look at Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, it always looks perfect. The actors. The visuals. The retro atmosphere. The funny script and funny dialogues. Ubiquitous fantasy. Shearmur's music. What we have before us is a much underrated gem that combines the adventures of a gentleman named Biggles with the fun of Star Wars and the imagination worthy of Karel Zeman with a nostalgic tear in the corner of the eye. Five and never otherwise. (25/08/2010)