Once again it has been proven that trailers can be misleading. Back in July (in the prior link) I stated my thoughts that Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow looked like it might be really fantastic. I am ashamed to admit that I even mentioned Lord of the Rings within the same post...
Sky Captain isn't a bad movie, it's just not a great one.
The film opens aboard a zeppelin (the Hindenburg III), preparing to dock atop the Empire State Building, and is photographed in such an unusual way that it took some time for my brain to adjust to what my eyes were seeing. The colors were very muted, and there was a softer focus than I've ever seen onscreen (and that's including shots of Barbara Walters during her interviews). It was actually a bit distracting, and to compound the confusion the scene was spoken in German with subtitles translating.
It would have been better to have opened the film with some sort of introductory scene which allowed us to take in the visual style of the film and get used to it before moving on with the story. Perhaps along the lines of the opening sequence in any James Bond film.
Having said all that, at least initially the visuals are mesmerizing and if you are a fan of classic films of the 40's it will give you a warm, fuzzy feeling of nostalgia. I really felt transported to another time, not only through the visuals but the acting style and the pacing. The down side of that is that yesterday's pacing can seem a bit slow by today's standards. Films are usually edited a bit tighter these days and one gets used to that.
The story follows Polly Perkins (Gwyneth Paltrow), a spunky newspaper reporter/photographer who comes across information which will give her a "scoop" as to why a number of prominent scientists are being killed one by one. The last surviving scientist contacts her, leaving her with blueprints for what looks like a robot, along with the cryptic name "Dr. Totenkopf" as the man behind it all. Immediately after this giant robots attack New York City, and her newshound instincts overrule any thoughts of personal safety as she places herself directly in the path of the mechanical monsters so she can get a great photograph.
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