“That’s about the dumbest thing you could ever see,” complained one disgruntled moviegoer while leaving the multiplex after watching Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. Although not totally in agreement with him, I understand his dismay. In an effort to give a fresh look at  the comic books and movie serials of the 1930s, filmmaker Kerry Conran delivers spectacular images instead of character development or involving storytelling in his first full-length movie offering.  

I’m old enough to remember enjoying those old serials like Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers, so I looked forward eagerly to seeing Sky Captain. However, despite the movie’s stunning visuals, I found it hard to sit through. For one thing, the sound effects are deafening. For another, even though fantastic things were happening on screen -- gargantuan robots attacking New York City, airplanes flapping their wings and so forth -- I didn’t feel anything for the human characters caught up in all the chaos. Of course, Jude Law (Cold Mountain) makes a handsome and dashing Sky Captain, Gwyneth Paltrow (View from the Top) is gorgeous as an ambitious reporter, and Angelina Jolie (Taking Lives) looks snappy in her British uniform. But all three seem more like cardboard cutouts than human beings as they try to save the world from a madman intent on destroying it.            

On the other hand, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow emerges as an unusual artistic achievement. “Kerry (Conran) has such a special vision, a sense of scale, of graphic composition, of the use of light and the use of darkness that it is somewhat overwhelming,” explains Jon Avnet, who signed on as Conran’s mentor-producer-protector after seeing his six-minute film short called The World of Tomorrow (made completely on a laptop computer). It’s also evident that Conran dearly loves the movies. He mixes elements of film noir and classic animation to create the unique look of Sky Captain -- and his movie pays homage to such classic films as Wuthering Heights and The Wizard of Oz as well as to Radio City Music Hall in its early days as a movie venue.

Commenting on the culture of the 1930s and 40s, Conran declares, “With all our technology, they were much more future-thinking than we are now.” I think that's why he wanted his movie to create an idealized vision of the future “that never quite materialized.” In a sense, Sky Captain uses today’s technology to view the future from the perspective of the past. Unfortunately, the film is more a fascinating curiosity than a satisfying movie experience.  

(Released by Paramount Pictures and rated “PG” for sequences of stylized sci-fi violence and brief mild language.)