Sky Captain - What a Sweet Disappointment
Yes, it seems that the most anticipated movie of the season was a waste of my hard-earned cash. But I still enjoyed it, because not in several years has a big-screen experience been so ripe for riffing and heckling.
I'm a fan of old serials, classic science fiction and the past visions of the future. I leap for joy at the thought of giant robots, goofy ray guns and dashing 'sky captains' battling the forces of evil (usually communists or fascists). I've sat through hours of Flash Gordon, Phantom Creeps and more, and I've read Edmund Hamilton pulp sf and enjoyed every minute of it. Classic movies are also no stranger to me, even the really bad ones like Rocketship X-M and Lost Continent are not below the scope of my radar.
With that established, it's a strange occurrence that I simply loathed this movie from beginning to end. At first glance it's got everything, giant robots, ray guns, sexy female reporters, a dashing hero, really cool sepia tones and classic movie blurriness.... all mixed in with cutting edge CGI to give it a unique look. I admit that the style of this film is definitely unique, and I would welcome similar styles in future films. But there is no substance at all to this movie.
The acting is shallow, dull and wooden. I sometimes wondered if it was intentional, but in the old serials if they did anything it was OVER-act. Not so in Sky Captain. An army of giant robots are advancing on our hero, and the volume of his voice never changes from scene to scene. I would be screaming at this point, but our hero acts like he's dosed on valium. And Gwyneth Paltrow - what to be said about her character, aside from the fact that I wanted her to get squished by the robots, snagged by the giant creatures, or sent plunging to her death. It's a terrible shame to see such a weak female role in a movie this day and age. Ugh!
Ambitious, yes. Ultimately worthwhile, no. It's garbage like Sky Captain that makes me wonder if the over-saturation of genre filmmaking is watering down the creative spirit of the big studios. In the end, it's all about money, bringing in the young ones and pulling a sucker punch for the price of a ticket. I'm glad that indy filmmaking is taking a bigger hold of our multiplexes, but I don't think it will save us from the death throes of creative genre filmmaking.
Anyway, that's my rant. It is going to be a great movie to riff with friends, I will say that much. But I will never pay to see Sky Captain again - except in PAIN AND AGONY!!!
posted by novachild @ Saturday, September 25, 2004,
