Reporter Polly Perkins is investigating the mysterious deaths of a group of scientists. Whilst she is carrying out her investigations New York City is attacked by a group of giant flying robots. Joe's colleague Dex manages to find the location from which they are being sent; however he is kidnapped before he is able to pass the information on to Joe. This leaves Joe and Polly on a daring mission to not only rescue Dex, but also to find out who is behind the killings of all these scientists and what nefarious plans they have in store for humankind....
I can honestly say that Sky Captain is unlike anything that I've seen before; it has a pulpy noir feel of a film from the 1930's (which makes sense given the setting of the film), but then it also has a science fiction element to the story which also gives the film a modern era feel too. It's a strange blend and is unusual, but it does work fairly well.
The thing that stands out the most about Sky Captain is the look of the film; aside from the actors it's pretty much all digital/computer effects - this is most noticeable with the cars. In fact when I started watching the film it reminded me of watching a story based computer game where real life people are depicted using motion capture (such as the brilliant Getaway on Playstation 2).
As well as being extremely well-made, Sky Captain is also quite fun to watch; the simmering sexual tension between Paltrow and Law is played out relatively well - yet there's always this feeling that she's more into him than he is into her. The mystery involving Dr Totenkopf is engaging enough to hold interest and the pacing of the film is fairly brisk meaning that it never feels boring.
Although you're not going to see any Oscar winning performances here everyone does a pretty job; Paltrow and Law are both good and the simmering chemistry between the two of them is always entertaining - they really don't like one another to begin with but slowly begin to bond which is as to be expected in this kind of narrative. The likes of Ribisi, Djalili and Jolie all work well in supporting roles; though it was hard to take Angie seriously in her role as a commanding officer - then again the film is not meant to be taken seriously so maybe I should let that one slide.
Sky Captain is worth seeing not only for the interesting visuals, but also for the way it melds two genres that you don't often see within the same film - namely noir and sci-fi. The story isn't brilliant, but it's good enough and director Kerry Conran provides plenty of action and thrills and spills meaning that there's rarely a dull moment. In other words you get plenty of bang for your buck here.
I can honestly say that Sky Captain is unlike anything that I've seen before; it has a pulpy noir feel of a film from the 1930's (which makes sense given the setting of the film), but then it also has a science fiction element to the story which also gives the film a modern era feel too. It's a strange blend and is unusual, but it does work fairly well.
The thing that stands out the most about Sky Captain is the look of the film; aside from the actors it's pretty much all digital/computer effects - this is most noticeable with the cars. In fact when I started watching the film it reminded me of watching a story based computer game where real life people are depicted using motion capture (such as the brilliant Getaway on Playstation 2).
As well as being extremely well-made, Sky Captain is also quite fun to watch; the simmering sexual tension between Paltrow and Law is played out relatively well - yet there's always this feeling that she's more into him than he is into her. The mystery involving Dr Totenkopf is engaging enough to hold interest and the pacing of the film is fairly brisk meaning that it never feels boring.
Although you're not going to see any Oscar winning performances here everyone does a pretty job; Paltrow and Law are both good and the simmering chemistry between the two of them is always entertaining - they really don't like one another to begin with but slowly begin to bond which is as to be expected in this kind of narrative. The likes of Ribisi, Djalili and Jolie all work well in supporting roles; though it was hard to take Angie seriously in her role as a commanding officer - then again the film is not meant to be taken seriously so maybe I should let that one slide.
Sky Captain is worth seeing not only for the interesting visuals, but also for the way it melds two genres that you don't often see within the same film - namely noir and sci-fi. The story isn't brilliant, but it's good enough and director Kerry Conran provides plenty of action and thrills and spills meaning that there's rarely a dull moment. In other words you get plenty of bang for your buck here.