Intermission: 'Sky Captain' triumphs with stunning visual style

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To quote a Tom Petty lyric, "The future ain't what it used to be." |ret||ret||tab|

Indeed.|ret||ret||tab|

Considering the explosive growth of technology in the 20th Century the period between the Wright Brothers' first flight and man landing on the moon was a scant 66 years it's little wonder that the vision and version of "the world of tomorrow" would change on a regular basis. |ret||ret||tab|

The advent of nuclear power and weapons, computer technology, and radio and television all came in such a rush that mankind had a hard time keeping up. Every decade had its predictions for how the world was going to be. |ret||ret||tab|

I remember films I saw in grade school in the early 1960s (they were made in the 50s) showing the fantastic world of the 1980s. There were moving sidewalks, meals in a pill and of course, air cars. |ret||ret||tab|

None of the predicted futures ever came to be, but plenty of other advances were made. The Internet is arguably the most far-reaching advancement to come along in the past generation, with global positioning satellites, cell phones that act as cameras, and VCRs and DVD players now in the $50 range vying right behind it. |ret||ret||tab|

As an avid comic book reader in the late 50s and early 60s, I'm pretty familiar with the various ways the future has been predicted, and I am always amused at how wrong the predictions were.|ret||ret||tab|

First-time director Kerry Conran has crafted a film that is at once state-of-the-art futuristic as well as retro. His version of the future is based on the mindset of 1939 America and his technique which comes off looking like an older sci-fi piece ("Metropolis" comes to mind) is a groundbreaking approach to film and the technology involved in making it.|ret||ret||tab|

Virtually everything in "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow" is virtual. The actors were filmed in front of a blue screen, and the backgrounds, all computer-generated, were filled in later. |ret||ret||tab|

Disney tried this computer-generated technique in "Tron" in 1982, but the difference between that movie and "Sky Captain" is comparable to the early video game Pong and today's Xbox offerings. Technology, again, has come a long way in a relatively short time.|ret||ret||tab|

The plot of "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow" is pure pulp, a fact that only enhances Conran's retro/futuristic vision. It's an exciting story, but without a doubt it's the visual element that captivates.|ret||ret||tab|

Manhattan has come under attack by a horde of giant robots. |ret||ret||tab|

Joe "Sky Captain" Sullivan (Jude Law) is revved and ready to stop them. Hitching a ride on his plane is journalist Polly Perkins (Gwyneth Paltrow), the kind of plucky reporter that is a mainstay of this type of pulp fiction.|ret||ret||tab|

The robots have been created and deployed by Dr. Totenkopf, a World War I German scientist who still harbors visions of ruling the world. He has kidnapped the great majority of the world's leading scientists in an effort that will make his dream easier to achieve.|ret||ret||tab|

In another twisted use of technology, director Conran has taken old footage of Sir Laurence Olivier and used it to create the character of Dr. Totenkopf.|ret||ret||tab|

Angelina Jolie as female sky pilot Franky Cook and Giovanni Ribisi as Dex Dearborn, Sullivan's techno savvy pal, play pivotal, if somewhat small, roles in the film.|ret||ret||tab|

Much like the "Indiana Jones" series, "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow" has the wonderful sense of a serial about it. I would relish a good (hopefully HBO-produced) series.|ret||ret||tab|

The visuals are state of the art but lean toward an older period. The film's hues are midway between black-and-white and sepia tone, a look that fits the film perfectly.|ret||ret||tab|

Writer/director Conran developed "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow" on his computer as a six-minute piece to show potential backers. It caught the eye of producer Jon Avnet, who got firmly behind the project and pitched it to Law and Paltrow, two of Hollywood's big draws.|ret||ret||tab|

Usually I, and most other film critics, point out that substance in film matters much more than style. Occasionally, however, a movie of such stunning style comes along to make us retract that tenet. |ret||ret||tab|

"Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow" is one of those films. |ret||ret||tab|

Many people are touting Conran as the "next Spielberg" or the "next George Lucas." That remains to be seen. But more power to him for bringing this vision to the screen.|ret||ret||tab|

With the heart of old time pulp science fiction and a high-tech approach to low-tech imagery "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow" is an enjoyable piece of work.|ret||ret||tab|

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Jim Wunderle owns Wunderle Sound Services and is a Springfield free-lance writer and musician.|ret||ret||tab|

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