It's All About Imagination
Sky Captain seems to be an homage, not just to sci-fi movies, but movies in general. While you watch this highly effective story unfold, you can't help but make comparisons to King Kong, Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Wizard of Oz. It's one of those movies where you can sit back and have a good time without losing half of your brain cells in the process. Sky Captain is able to make fun of their own characters, because how serious can they be? It's not about the explosions, it's about paying respects to some of the greatest films of all time, and creating a really good one in the process.
Giant man-like machines are invading alternate-reality-Depression-era Manhattan! The police are helpless. The army is too slow. Who can stop them? Only Joe Sullivan, also known as Sky Captain (Jude Law). Swooping in with his fierce fighter jet, he halts the invasion, but not before some escape with generators taken from the city. Why were these machines after the generators? Who is building them? Joe's ex-girlfriend, the intrepid news reporter Polly Perkins (Gwyneth Paltrow), has a lead, and so it's up to them to find out what's going on. Joining them in their adventure will Dex Dearborn (Giovanni Ribisi), Sky Captain's team leader, and Captain Frankie Cook (Angelina Jolie), a Navy Captain with all of Jolie's trademark attitude.
This movie is a pure joy to watch. The art direction is absolutely fantastic, as it produces a technique that makes the movie look as if it should be in black and white, though it really is in color. This makes every single scene look dramatic. Some of the backdrops look like paintings, but for the first time in computer effects, they're supposed to look that way. The director was going for an alernate-reality look, and he certainly got it.
But what really makes this movie shine is the sense of humor, the way it pulls out all sorts of tricks just to make the audience laugh, or shake their head in a "I can't believe he just did that" kind of way. Who would expect a plane to have a grappling hook? Most of the surprises are just too good to give away. The characters are the heart of this movie, specifically Joe and Polly. Their interaction is sweet, and oftetimes, downright hilarious. Their break-up didn't go to well, it seems, so there is still a lot of bad blood between the two. That doesn't prevent them from having a good time. I recall saying that Jude Law was a bore in Cold Mountain. Here, he is nothing of the sort. He, and along with the entire cast, does a great job of "overacting", like many of the actors from era's long past.
After seeing how this movie is turned out, I would expect there to be some sort of trilogy planned, in the vein of Indiana Jones. A different story every time, maybe a different girl too. We'll just have to wait and see. I would love to see more of the adventures of Sky Captain.