Hi, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab...
Y’know, I’ve been saying for some time now that SKY CAPTAIN is one of those movies that will strike some people perfectly while leaving others cold. I heard tonight that one of the biggest-name critics in the business plans to rave ecstatically about the film in a couple of weeks, and Kerry Conran was greeted warmly by the majority of the press at the recent New York junket, where he talked a bit about his next picture, PRINCESS OF MARS, which is being produced by some lunatic in Texas who will no doubt add lots of heavy metal to the score and spend most of his time hitting on potential female leads.
Here’s one of the few negative reviews I’ve gotten in so far for the film, and I wanted to run it because I do feel there are people who just won’t tune in to the particular geek fetish vibe of the film. This isn’t a hyperbolic hate letter, either, but simply an opinion that runs contrary to many of those we’ve already published:
Dear Drew:
I'm writing with a review of the much-anticipated movie "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow", which I was able to see at a sneak at the Sherman Oaks Galleria three weeks ago. I didn't write in then because I was hoping someone else would take on the painful job of being the "bearer of bad news." I know how gaga-in-love Quint is with this movie, but I'm sorry, it's not worth the hype. I saw it in a packed house and it was clear that the audience wasn't into it. There were a few people in the "reserved rows" (clearly people involved with the film) that were clapping and celebrating Paltrow's annoying-as-hell character. Anyway, in the off chance that this review sees the light of day, I'll break it down for all of you:
The look of this film is awesome - that I have to give Kerry and his team - the throwback to pulp comics and serials works amazingly well and there's an incredible array of "beauty shots." The characters blend in with the backgrounds quite well so you buy into into - I was afraid the "all green screen" technique would pull you out of the story, but hey it worked. Kudos. If this movie intended to prove that an all "green screen movie" can work, then the filmmakers succeeded. To me it's a success in the way that Jar Jar paved the way for Gollum.
The script was a-ight. My main gripe with it is how shortchanged and annoying the character of Paltrow was. I get it. I understand they wanted to pay tribute to that archetypical female character of the past, but it didn't work. She's set up as a gifted reporter yet she can put two and two together. Example: at the beginning of the film, it's set up that scientists are being kidnapped, Paltrow's character knows that and goes to meet someone at Radio Music hall, who introduces himself as the last scientist from this team who hasn't been kidnapped. The whole time, Polly (I think that was her name) is pumping the guy for information: Who's the next? But who's next? For the love of God tell me who's next?! I was dying, laughing at how stupid they made her seem. Meanwhile the guy next to me dead-panned: "she ain't too bright, ain't she?" I could go on and on. There's a gag involving Polly only having two shots left in her camera that is milked way too much. Bottom line for me, she's the most obnoxious character since Kate Capshaw in "Temple of Doom."
Something that struck me as odd was how jarring some of the locations changes seemed: it was like we were going from one movie to another. At one point the characters go to Shangri-La I believe and it seems that they've been transported to "Lord of the Rings", then to another location which seems to scream "Jurassic Park" then to a secret base that seems right out of the droid factory from AOTC. It was too jarring and unbelievable for me.
Quint is right Ribissi and Jolie stealing the movie - not that their parts are incredible - but they're reasonably charming characters in a sea of annoyance. To name an example late in the movie when it became rather clear to me that the audience had turned on this film: Angelina's character saves the day, the people from the "reserved seats" cheered while the rest of the theater remained silent, then a guy in the back uttered a low and half-hearted "yeah!" and everyone that heard him cracked up.
As the movie finished and we were being ushered out of the theater, I kept asking myself the same question I asked when I saw the first teaser: "who is this movie for?" It's a love letter to the past and maybe it should've remained in someone's computer. The Director shows talent in this movie, but I keep thinking he's the luckiest guy alive for getting to tackle John Carter.
Sincerely,
EC
We’re just a few weeks away from THE WORLD OF TOMORROW at this point, so everyone’s going to have their chance to chime in then. I certainly hope you guys enjoy it the way I did, but I figure it’ll be an interesting conversation, to say the least.
"Moriarty" out.
