Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, Vol. II.

I finally got to see Sky Captain in its entirety (the theater blew a fuse during my first attempt).

It's official: It's my new favorite movie of the year.

(Special mention to Hero, though. I really thought that would be it. It's beautifully-shot and underlaid with a layered plot, and the fight scenes are breath-taking. Tony Leung is a particular strong point. But something, ultimately, failed to connect with me to make it truly satisfying. If I had to (reluctantly) point to any one thing, it would be Jet Li's character, who looked great on paper but who, on screen, just didn't ignite the the kind of interest his background and story warranted. As Nameless is the linchpin around which the rest of the narrative turns, this made the entire edifice shaky for me. I admire Hero, but I adore Sky Captain.)

Now, Sky Captain isn't flawless, but I walked out of that theater feeling like I'd had a solid 110 minutes of good old-fashioned fun, and that my nine bucks had been very well-spent. That the people behind this movie love movies is evident in every single frame and sound effect, and all their hard work has paid off.

Unless you've been hiding under a rock, you know this movie is CGI- and stylization-heavy, but the triumph is that it's no mere gimmick. The visuals--airbrushed, desaturated, and luminous--have a delicate, nearly translucent quality, as though the events that take place just barely missed being captured by this medium. And they are simply stunning. It's not just that airships look like airships and giant robots look like giant robots; it's that every frame has been carefully weighed and composed with an artistic eye. Someone on IMDB describes it as "stylistically pure with a uncompromising and utterly stunning esthetic," and I couldn't have said it better myself.

That aesthetic, to our great fortune, extends to more than just the visuals.

( ...spoilers at two o'clock... )

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, Vol. II.

I finally got to see Sky Captain in its entirety (the theater blew a fuse during my first attempt).

It's official: It's my new favorite movie of the year.

(Special mention to Hero, though. I really thought that would be it. It's beautifully-shot and underlaid with a layered plot, and the fight scenes are breath-taking. Tony Leung is a particular strong point. But something, ultimately, failed to connect with me to make it truly satisfying. If I had to (reluctantly) point to any one thing, it would be Jet Li's character, who looked great on paper but who, on screen, just didn't ignite the the kind of interest his background and story warranted. As Nameless is the linchpin around which the rest of the narrative turns, this made the entire edifice shaky for me. I admire Hero, but I adore Sky Captain.)

Now, Sky Captain isn't flawless, but I walked out of that theater feeling like I'd had a solid 110 minutes of good old-fashioned fun, and that my nine bucks had been very well-spent. That the people behind this movie love movies is evident in every single frame and sound effect, and all their hard work has paid off.

Unless you've been hiding under a rock, you know this movie is CGI- and stylization-heavy, but the triumph is that it's no mere gimmick. The visuals--airbrushed, desaturated, and luminous--have a delicate, nearly translucent quality, as though the events that take place just barely missed being captured by this medium. And they are simply stunning. It's not just that airships look like airships and giant robots look like giant robots; it's that every frame has been carefully weighed and composed with an artistic eye. Someone on IMDB describes it as "stylistically pure with a uncompromising and utterly stunning esthetic," and I couldn't have said it better myself.

That aesthetic, to our great fortune, extends to more than just the visuals.

( ...spoilers at two o'clock... )