Sky Captain And The World Of Tomorrow

With a creation story as fascinating as the movie itself, Sky Captain And The World Of Tomorrow represents a revolution in cinematic technology as important as the advent of the talkies, and heralds a new age of imaginative film-making. It was therefore desperately important that it be a good film, one capable of thrilling audiences as well as technicians, and in this capacity it really does deliver. Though imperfect, it tells its ripping yarn with confidence, carrying viewers along, and it's telling that a significant number of them never even notice what the rest of the fuss is about.

Set in an alternative mid 20th century New York which borrows heavily from the visions of Fritz Lang, this is the story of flying ace Joe (Jude Law) and intrepid reporter Polly Perkins (Gwyneth Paltrow), who are caught up in an attack by giant robots and set out to investigate its source. With room for both sleuthing and action adventure, it's a classic tale of heroism which will please adults and children alike. Twists are well concealed, partly because it's so easy to hide advance hints within the wealth of visual information presented to the viewer, yet the story is essentially naive, sticking closely to the trail-of-clues formula, which is sometimes a weakness.

The script suffers further from the inexperience of its creator, Kerry Conran, who writes some excellent dynamic lines (Angelina Jolie might have waited her whole career to command "Prepare the amphibious squadron!"), yet has no idea how to write filler dialogue, so that we hear some of the same conversations over and over again.

Jude Law isn't always sure what to do with his starring role; at times he's appropriately brilliant and charismatic, but at others his performance is lifeless, his lines merely recited. Paltrow, however, is perfect as his spirited foil, understanding completely the nature of 1940s-style battle-of-the-sexes banter, and she's also terrific in the physical aspects of her performance. With only a blue screen and the other actors to work with, this demanded highly specialised and imaginative work from all involved; barring small props like guns and handbags, not a single object shown in the film was real. There's also a fascinating appearance from the several-years-dead Sir Laurence Olivier as the story's villain, another harbinger of things to come.

As one would expect with such a precocious project, Sky Captain isn't technically flawless; one notices the odd hiccup every now and again, as the stunning visuals slip out of sync; but these problems are no more prevalent than one would expect in any film using CGI. Overall, the degree of care taken, and its results, are amazing. Features such as snow and rain don't always look photo-realistic, but they fit neatly into visuals which are also referencing Forties comic strips. Stunning use of light and astute blurring of edges complements this whilst working around many of the more awkward technical issues. As costume designer, Stella McCartney has finally done something useful, blending her vision flawlessly into Conran's. The overall design work is the most impressive feature of all. Several times, the mechanical contraptions on show directly elicited gasps from the audience. The art deco aesthetic seems the perfect choice for a project of this type, and contributes to the viewer's willingness to believe in enormous and fantastic things.

From this point forward, film-making will never be the same again. Don't miss out on the chance to see the movie that changed it all.