Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow

An unusual approach to a fascinating story. A wonderfully fairytale approach with elements of thriller and sci-fi. Some of the scenes reminded me at times of my all time favorite, Star Wars. It’s just a shame that in places (especially during the second half) the movie rather loses pace; otherwise I’d give it 4 stars. (31/05/2006)

The plot-driven and especially the punchline have fizzled out, nevertheless it is an artistically remarkable film that references famous movies of the past and evokes the atmosphere of classic adventure film and literature. It has a touch of Verne, a touch of Trsouka, and the creators of American sci-fi from the 30s. Overall impression: 65%. (01/12/2007)

The stylized visuals are complemented by excellent sound and a great orchestral soundtrack. However, the story lags a long way behind the quality of the technical aspects. Although it is completely obvious that this is intentionally naive as a dime novel, but perhaps they go too far. It’s nice that it was basically made by one person in his garage, but that is no excuse for all of the shortcomings. Another disappointment is Jude Law: he simply isn’t the heroic adventurer type. Conversely, the lately rather back-seated Paltrow seems to really enjoy her role as the journalist. Another plus point is the goading humor between the central duo which, luckily, works, saving a lot. (01/11/2004)

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)

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)