sky captain and the world of tomorrow
yet another one of those movies that only I remain excited about that critics simultaneously bash and praise. (Why has that been a recurring theme of late? Movies that are overwhelmingly "blah" because all that is really cool in them is cancelled out by some mind-numbing awfulness?) It has certain charms, though. Shot entirely in front of blue screen, breaking new ground in cinema, it's your average pulp comic story: Plucky gal reporter (Gwyneth Paltrow) working on a story no one cares about teams up with ex-flame Sky Captain (Jude Law) to thwart killer robots bent on incinerating the earth (and coincendentally, have something to do with the details of that sleeper story).
THE GOOD:
1. Retro is back. Lots of circa 1939 goodness in this flick for all you nostalgia fans. Radio City Music Hall is reconstructed to its former glory and is very droolworthy as Judy Garland sings "Over the Rainbow" confusing everyone who was alive in 1939 and know for a fact that The Wizard of Oz was never screened at Radio City; Polly Perkins and Joe Sullivan (note the All American names of our hero and heroine) are clad in typical Girl Friday curls and bomber jacket respectively; Vintage Coke ads appear all over NYC etc. I think you get the idea. A nice little trip without the time-machine.
2. German Expressionism makes nice with the computer. It is visually stunning. You have to give them that much. This movie looks good, with its looming buildings, asymmetrical frame compositions, stylized lighting and exotic locales. Pwetti.
3. Aw, they bicker like they're in L-O-V-E. I'm a sucker for thwarted romance. Thankfully, the two don't get together in a gag worthy moment as the world is about to be destroyed; my favorite scene is when Polly gets it on the jaw- lovely. Had such an Amelia moment there I thought I'd cry with laughter. And Jude Law is really cute in his bomber jacket. Really cute. As the two leads, they are quite charming. They don't do or say anything original but the attractiveness of both of them in proximity will force a smile.
4. The scene-stealing plucky comic relief. Giovanni Ribisi as tech dude Dex (who should have been geekier than portrayed, a la Marshall, Op Tech Premier of TV'sAlias) and Omid Djalili (my man from The Mummy- still as smelly as ever) as Nepal guide Kaji are just cool. In a weird Raiders comparison, Ribisi reminds me of the slightly hapless Marcus Brody and Djalili makes a slightly hairier and less charming Sulla.
THE BAD:
1. Sir Lawrence Olivier WILL haunt your children's children for this indignity, mark my words. Given full screen credit (with his title, even) for the complied footage that makes up the presence of uber-villain Dr. Totenkopf. Olivier was a screen legend, and had experience in playing some very nasty EVIL people. You'd think he'd be able to phone in a performance from the grave (if anybody could, it would be him, right? Or maybe Meryl Streep, once she kicks the bucket.) But NO, even the great Shakespearan actor is lacking. And the kicker is, it's not really his fault. Considering the plethora of footage available to the movie's creators, they picked photos and film reels of Olivier at his most un-menacing and charming. Now, if Olivier was alive, he could pull off the debonair but incredibly sinister maniac with unparalleled mastery (kinda like Ron Rifkin in TV's Alias I'm guessing- can you tell I've been watching Season 3 on DVD recently?). But a complier cannot create this performance, even with 21st century technology, thus making the biggest threat of the movie it's biggest flop, and reaffirming job security for all modern actors.
2. John Williams, I think your first drafts of Raiders are missing. Edward Shearmur, a little tip: don't try to best one of the greatest composers of film. You will fail. Don't get me wrong, the soundtrack to the film could be much, much worse. There's a nice uplifting/stirring theme song to play when the hero gets the upper hand, and some scary thumping when the monsters are closing in. There's even a not-too-sick-making version of "Over the Rainbow" by Jane Monheit. But it wins no points in for originality, and spends more effort in creating scary kathumping than heroic trills. (If there's a love theme, I didn't hear it.)
3. I hate Angelina Jolie. Can't help it. She keeps appearing in movies and it's driving me crazy. And she's in full-awful mode as "Franky", leader of the Amphibious Squadron (which really isn't as silly as the name implies). It's the gargatuan lips, the permanent super-haughty expression, the awful British accent, the utter implausibility and ridiculousness of her character, the lack of any kind of chemistry with her costars, and a really stupid eye-patch. (Okay, so she can't help the lip thing. But they still bug me.)
4. Luke-warm credits. Okay, so this isn't really detrimental to most people, but I'm not most people, am I? With all of the fantastic imagery, they couldn't get a bit more elaborate with the credits? A nicer than usual use of typography but nothing earth-shattering. A disappointment.
5. Pretty sets and characters will not magically get rid of gaping plot-holes and trite dialogue. See, Indiana Jones worked not just because you had Spielberg behind the camera and Ford in the frame. It worked because Lawrence Kasdan wrote a fantastically witty script that had a plot. He created characters that were a bit unbelievable, sure, but they had depth, breadth, and some revealing traits. They spoke well in meaningful conversations between blowing stuff up. And stuff blew up for a purpose other than the sheer visual explosion. "Sky Captain" was not as fortunate. These characters don't talk much, and when they do, it's not very revealing, interesting, or original. An evil genius should never make a Grand Plan as ridiculous as Totemkopf's unless he is severely deranged. No one says that Totemkopf was a loony; villainous, scary, wickedly smart yes (who the hell gets three doctorates by age 17?) but three fries short of a happy meal? Not mentioned.
Despite its failings, it wasn't bad for summer fare. Very light on the mind, very easy on the eyes, with a certain retro-adventure charm that's unfortunately missing in most modern action movies. To be honest Cons #2 and #4 aren't really big deals. And I can't tell you how many bad films I love that have ridiculous plots and aren't half as visually arresting. I guess what I'm saying is, I'd see it again in a heartbeat, damn guilty pleasure... ;)
THE GOOD:
1. Retro is back. Lots of circa 1939 goodness in this flick for all you nostalgia fans. Radio City Music Hall is reconstructed to its former glory and is very droolworthy as Judy Garland sings "Over the Rainbow" confusing everyone who was alive in 1939 and know for a fact that The Wizard of Oz was never screened at Radio City; Polly Perkins and Joe Sullivan (note the All American names of our hero and heroine) are clad in typical Girl Friday curls and bomber jacket respectively; Vintage Coke ads appear all over NYC etc. I think you get the idea. A nice little trip without the time-machine.
2. German Expressionism makes nice with the computer. It is visually stunning. You have to give them that much. This movie looks good, with its looming buildings, asymmetrical frame compositions, stylized lighting and exotic locales. Pwetti.
3. Aw, they bicker like they're in L-O-V-E. I'm a sucker for thwarted romance. Thankfully, the two don't get together in a gag worthy moment as the world is about to be destroyed; my favorite scene is when Polly gets it on the jaw- lovely. Had such an Amelia moment there I thought I'd cry with laughter. And Jude Law is really cute in his bomber jacket. Really cute. As the two leads, they are quite charming. They don't do or say anything original but the attractiveness of both of them in proximity will force a smile.
4. The scene-stealing plucky comic relief. Giovanni Ribisi as tech dude Dex (who should have been geekier than portrayed, a la Marshall, Op Tech Premier of TV'sAlias) and Omid Djalili (my man from The Mummy- still as smelly as ever) as Nepal guide Kaji are just cool. In a weird Raiders comparison, Ribisi reminds me of the slightly hapless Marcus Brody and Djalili makes a slightly hairier and less charming Sulla.
THE BAD:
1. Sir Lawrence Olivier WILL haunt your children's children for this indignity, mark my words. Given full screen credit (with his title, even) for the complied footage that makes up the presence of uber-villain Dr. Totenkopf. Olivier was a screen legend, and had experience in playing some very nasty EVIL people. You'd think he'd be able to phone in a performance from the grave (if anybody could, it would be him, right? Or maybe Meryl Streep, once she kicks the bucket.) But NO, even the great Shakespearan actor is lacking. And the kicker is, it's not really his fault. Considering the plethora of footage available to the movie's creators, they picked photos and film reels of Olivier at his most un-menacing and charming. Now, if Olivier was alive, he could pull off the debonair but incredibly sinister maniac with unparalleled mastery (kinda like Ron Rifkin in TV's Alias I'm guessing- can you tell I've been watching Season 3 on DVD recently?). But a complier cannot create this performance, even with 21st century technology, thus making the biggest threat of the movie it's biggest flop, and reaffirming job security for all modern actors.
2. John Williams, I think your first drafts of Raiders are missing. Edward Shearmur, a little tip: don't try to best one of the greatest composers of film. You will fail. Don't get me wrong, the soundtrack to the film could be much, much worse. There's a nice uplifting/stirring theme song to play when the hero gets the upper hand, and some scary thumping when the monsters are closing in. There's even a not-too-sick-making version of "Over the Rainbow" by Jane Monheit. But it wins no points in for originality, and spends more effort in creating scary kathumping than heroic trills. (If there's a love theme, I didn't hear it.)
3. I hate Angelina Jolie. Can't help it. She keeps appearing in movies and it's driving me crazy. And she's in full-awful mode as "Franky", leader of the Amphibious Squadron (which really isn't as silly as the name implies). It's the gargatuan lips, the permanent super-haughty expression, the awful British accent, the utter implausibility and ridiculousness of her character, the lack of any kind of chemistry with her costars, and a really stupid eye-patch. (Okay, so she can't help the lip thing. But they still bug me.)
4. Luke-warm credits. Okay, so this isn't really detrimental to most people, but I'm not most people, am I? With all of the fantastic imagery, they couldn't get a bit more elaborate with the credits? A nicer than usual use of typography but nothing earth-shattering. A disappointment.
5. Pretty sets and characters will not magically get rid of gaping plot-holes and trite dialogue. See, Indiana Jones worked not just because you had Spielberg behind the camera and Ford in the frame. It worked because Lawrence Kasdan wrote a fantastically witty script that had a plot. He created characters that were a bit unbelievable, sure, but they had depth, breadth, and some revealing traits. They spoke well in meaningful conversations between blowing stuff up. And stuff blew up for a purpose other than the sheer visual explosion. "Sky Captain" was not as fortunate. These characters don't talk much, and when they do, it's not very revealing, interesting, or original. An evil genius should never make a Grand Plan as ridiculous as Totemkopf's unless he is severely deranged. No one says that Totemkopf was a loony; villainous, scary, wickedly smart yes (who the hell gets three doctorates by age 17?) but three fries short of a happy meal? Not mentioned.
Despite its failings, it wasn't bad for summer fare. Very light on the mind, very easy on the eyes, with a certain retro-adventure charm that's unfortunately missing in most modern action movies. To be honest Cons #2 and #4 aren't really big deals. And I can't tell you how many bad films I love that have ridiculous plots and aren't half as visually arresting. I guess what I'm saying is, I'd see it again in a heartbeat, damn guilty pleasure... ;)
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home