Though only four years old, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow seems now to be a harbinger of things to come. For one thing, it is completely animated, except for the live actors who include Jude Law as the film title’s action pilot, Gwyneth Paltrow as the girl reporter, Angelina Jolie as a butch ex-lover, and even Laurence Olivier in some manipulated footage. Seeing it again today, one realizes that Kerry Conran’s film anticipated Sin City, Peter Jackson’s King Kong, and even the new Indiana Jones movie in its prophetic “borrowings.” By borrowing from Wells’s War of the Worlds, it anticipated Spielberg’s take on the novel.

It’s is a film steeped in new technology in service of an imaginary pop culture past. Sky Captain looks like a cartoon, though a softly lighted one, which makes the outlandish array of villains, robots, giants, wing-flapping planes and Dr. Moreau style monsters acceptable. Conran’s script is an anthology of old movies, pulp novels, serials, and action films, referencing everything from Lang’s Metropolis to Titan A. E., with nods to Lost Horizon, and Brad Bird’s The Iron Giant among scores of other movies (Sky Captain even borrows a few lines of dialogue from Marathon Man). Unfortunately, the mass of viewers are impatient with aggressive movie referencing (is it too much like film school), and the $40 million dollar movie (a bargain today) apparently made but $37 million.

In fact, it’s somewhat hard to tell just for whom this film was made, given that it is perhaps too sophisticated in its referencing for kids and old hat to oldsters. Vancouverites will have a chance to find out, however, when Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow initiates Uptown Movie Nights latest season of summer fun films on Saturday July 19. Best of all, the first four weeks offer free movies and music (though popcorn, candy, and soda still go for $1), right there on the corner of 23rd and Main Street with Jeremy Kobel the first of the season’s musical guest. Music starts up at 7:30 PM and the movie begins at dusk, or about 8:45 PM. For more info please go to the Kiggins website or the page dedicated to the Uptown Movies events.

This entry was posted on Saturday, July 19th, 2008 at 10:41 am and is filed under Reel Politique - Film columnist DK Holm. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.