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While setting a milestone in the progress of digital filmmaking, Sky Captain
and the World of Tomorrow resurrects a nostalgic fantasy world derived
from a wide variety of vintage inspirations. It's a dazzling dream for
anyone who appreciates the look and feel of golden-age sci-fi pulp magazines,
drawing its unique, all-digital design from such diverse sources as Howard
Hawks adventures, Fritz Lang's Metropolis, Buck Rogers, Blackhawk comics,
The Third Man, cliffhanger serials, and the action-packed Indiana Jones
franchise. Writer-director Kerry Conran's feature debut is also guaranteed
to inspire digital dreamers everywhere, suggesting a paradigm shift in
the way CGI-dominated movies are made. It's a giddy adventure for the
young and young-at-heart, in which ace pilot "Sky Captain" Joe
Sullivan (Jude Law) and intrepid reporter Polly Perkins (Gwyneth Paltrow)
must save the world from a mad scientist whose vision of the future has
tragic implications for all humankind. Angelina Jolie drops in for a glorified
cameo, but it's the ultra-fortunate neophyte Conran who's the star here.
His clever riff on The Wizard of Oz is a marvel to behold, and the method
of its creation is nothing less than revolutionary. - Jeff Shannon
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