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Michael Elliott (Movie Parables) sums it up in two sentences: "The art is amazing. What the film lacks is heart." He adds that the film "doesn't really seem to build momentum or sustain dramatic tension."

Melinda Ledman (Hollywood Jesus) explores what the villain, Dr. Totenkopf, might represent: "If Totenkopf (literally meaning 'dead head' in German) is supposed to represent God, then the writer's intent is to suggest that there is no God at all. … The alternative is that Totenkopf is supposed to represent man's attempt to play God. In fact, Sky Captain makes the comment at one point in the film, 'He was trying to play God.' This comment implies that man can only pretend at such a game and can never hold the eternal wisdom needed to care for the earth … The implication is that man's attempt to play God ends only in his own destruction, the potential destruction of mankind, and the ruler's exposure as a weak, faulty, dead head."

Mainstream critics had mixed reactions, though generally positive.

Andrew Coffin (World) writes, "The strikingly unique Sky Captain … is likely to suffer from muddled audience expectations. Go to the film expecting nothing more than an incredibly elaborate, delightfully retro cartoon, and Sky Captain will offer some real pleasures. Demand more, and you will almost certainly be disappointed."

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