Despite dozing off momentarily in parts (OK, I had a couple of beers before the 10:30 PM showing), Sky Captain managed to entertain. A bit of comics, a bit of pulp, Fritz Lang, Indiana Jones and Iron Giant, the film is a throw back to the classic sci-fi/adventure genre: running jokes between characters, a number of mysterious perfectly coordinated sartorial revelations and unmussed hair - throughout. There were some robots that vaguely ressembled Miyazake's creations from Castle in the Sky and basically, throughout the film, I thought, if you can imagine it, it will come - an underwater aircraft that can dive head-on into the ocean without breaking up from the impact, done! an eject capsule that turns into a jet pack, done! a nice pair of tweed baby doll heels and a monochromatic form-fitting suit, done!
It was hard to suspend disbelief for a moment, knowing the entire thing was done on blue screen. The look of the film intentionally took on the look of art deco classic with the architecture, creature creations, sepia and monochromatic tones, blurry things falling through the air, and seemingly misty lenses - that was interesting as I rather liked that. But then there was the dialogue to deal with and the way the actors looked a bit strange, as if they were...acting in front of a blue screen with minimal props. I couldn't concentrate properly as I thought about each thing individually, unable to pull them together into a single stream. Then there were the parts where I dozed off as the story plodded along. Then there was Angelina Jolie's one eye with a very thin line of eyeliner. So, many things distracted me. So, don't watch this after a few beers. I did like the ending though.
12:49 AM | |
