Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, 2004

"Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow" was Kerry Conran's one-man homage (the original six-minute short, included as an extra, was made on a Mac in his apartment, no less) to the sci-fi film serials of the 1930s and 40s, replete with snappy, sultry reporter Polly Perkins (Gwyneth Paltrow) in search of the ultimate scoop, cocky fighter pilot Joe Sullivan (Jude Law), the over-eager, clean-cut techno-whiz kid sidekick Dex (Giovanni Ribisi), and feisty, no-nonsense ex-flame Frankie (Angelina Jolie), commander of an airborne British squadron. I thought the actors did a wonderful job, especially when you consider that there were no sets, props, etc. to set the stage, so to speak. The film was completely created via CGI, and takes viewers from the Art Deco lines of New York to the gardens of Shangri-la on a quest to discover why giant robots are attacking cities around the globe. This is a film of unprecedented beauty, filled to the brim with every child's thrills: dinosaurs, robots, ray guns, dirigibles, rockets, airborne battles, and more, with a dash of romance and intrigue for the grownups. It's even more amazing watching the two-part documentary Brave New World, in which we see the sound stages and blue screens, completely devoid of props, etc. except for the actors and their marks. The costumes, music, and film making lovingly recall the 1930s and 1940s, from the film titles to the sweeping orchestral themes. An experience not to be missed for fans of vintage sci-fi the gloriously cheesy sci-fi serials of decades past. 5*****STARS

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