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What makes the movie's plot work is genuinely witty dialogue, a cast of well-written characters, and surprises that keep the story from being predictable. The truth is, once the whole plot is revealed, it is a pretty typical mad scientist plot. And the movie could have been improved with a villain as strong as its hero. Oh, and don't expect a lot of thought-provoking depth here—there are some basic thoughts on loyalty, playing God, and heroism, but hey, this is a movie about GIANT ROBOTS. And the film's real appeal is the journey you take with Sky Captain. And when that journey includes mysterious women with laser-sticks, jet packs, and P-40 Warhawks fitted to go underwater, it's just plain fun.

Robots … lots of cool, really big robots

But as George Lucas has proven, even fun vision can be ruined by wooden characters and uninspired acting. This is Sky Captain's secret weapon. You can tell that Paltrow, Law and Angelina Jolie had fun becoming these archetypal characters and that they bought into the 1940s style of acting—especially in portraying Polly and Sky Captain's Bacall-Bogart chemistry. Giovanni Ribisi is also exceptional as the lovable, "Shazam"-exclaiming sidekick, Dex. Best of all, there is a real sense that characters actually have long-standing relationships, as if they've been living life together off screen somewhere.

And that somewhere would be a cool place to hang out—or see again in a Sky Captain sequel. Heck, I'm already just excited for Conran's next film because of its geekily-cool sci-fi name, A Princess of Mars. Now, where can I find that screensaver?

Talk About It

1. What makes Joe Sullivan a hero? Is he a hero you can really respect?
   
   
2. A severely ill character asks Joe to kill him in return for a favor. What do you think he did? Why? What would you have done?
   
   
3. Does Totenkopf have anything right about the nature of man? What? And where does he go too far? With his strong convictions about where the world was headed, what could he have done differently?

The Family Corner

Rated PG for sequences of stylized sci-fi violence and brief mild language. The violence is largely battle scenes between aircraft and robots. There are a few fistfights, some gunplay and use of ray guns. The mild language includes taking the Lord's name in vain and one subtitled comment on female anatomy.

Photos © Copyright Paramount Pictures

Fall may have just arrived, but summer movies are still here! Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow soared to the top of the box office last weekend as it gave audiences one last dose of breezy, action-packed entertainment. The film is a nostalgic thrill ride inspired by 1930s comic books, film noir, pulpy adventure stories and the like, but in its own way, it also looks to the future. Director Kerry Conran has gone further than even George Lucas has ever done in creating a world in which everything but the actors has been generated on a computer. The film stars Jude Law as Joe Sullivan, a mercenary flyboy who battles skyscraper-sized robots and mighty metal flying machines, and Gwyneth Paltrow as Polly Perkins, a reporter hot on the trail of the mysterious Dr. Totenkopf, an evil German scientist whose equally mysterious caped henchwoman is killing scientists one by one.

Christian movie critics, many of whom honed their faith-based appreciation of film on earlier Saturday-matinee revivals such as Star Wars and the Indiana Jones films, have generally welcomed Sky Captain as a fun return to the innocent entertainment of a bygone age.

Todd Hertz (Christianity Today Movies) admits the film may appeal more to "film junkies and adventure geeks" than to moviegoers who don't share his affection for movies with ray guns. "But because it is done well, most audiences will appreciate Sky Captain as a unique, imaginative, and family-friendly adventure story. … What makes the movie's plot work is genuinely witty dialogue, a cast of well-written characters, and surprises that keep the story from being predictable."

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