Retro Captain flies into theaters

Once in a blue moon, the film industry is graced by a phenomenon: a fresh new filmmaker who creates a revolutionary and innovative way of making a movie. In Kerry Conran that filmmaker has arrived. Conran’s development of an original cinematic style and a completely new superhero in Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow transforms the film into something magnificent.

Conran developed a radical concept for shooting his movie while attending film school. This idea, shooting actors in front of blue screens and then digitally painting in the background, created an illusion of reality combined with animation. He knew that he had struck something big, but none of the major production companies were willing to commit to something that was so risky and expensive. Instead, Conran took his idea and ran with it, originally creating a six-minute, black and white short-film featuring his unique hero, Sky Captain. The short’s originality and promise attracted the attention of producer Jon Avnet (The Mighty Ducks) who convinced Conran to expand his vision into a full-length feature. Jude Law and wife Sadie Frost signed on as producers, and with their help the film attracted other big-time talents Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie. Six years later, after the film’s completion, Paramount finally latched on as a distributor.

Conran created a plot that draws from several common comic book clichés: the good-looking hero Sky Captain (Law) fights the evil German, Dr. Totenkopf, played by the late Sir Lawrence Olivier. A bevy of wild robotic menaces attack Sky Captain’s home, Gotham City, forcing the aviator to defend those he loves. Polly Perkins (Paltrow), the stereotypical quick-witted female companion, remains by the superhero’s side. As a reporter for the city’s paper, Polly hopes to cover the unfolding events and rekindle the lost relationship between Sky Captain and herself.

Although the plot itself may seem commonplace, Conran’s ingenuity is apparent in the creation of Sky Captain’s character. Unlike most of the comic book characters of that day, Sky Captain has no dual identity. Peter Parker becomes Spiderman and Clark Kent becomes Superman, but Sky Captain and Captain Joe Sullivan are one and the same. Moreover, while Clark Kent and Peter Parker’s human flaws disappear in their superhero alter-egos, Sky Captain remains a flawed character.

Whereas Conran’s creation of a new superhero is intriguing, the fact remains that the plot is not the crux of the film’s genius. The story follows classic comic conventions, which have strengths but also weaknesses. Sky Captain succeeds when it showcases the technology employed in creating it. Conran has created a cinematic world in a way unlike any that have come before him, singlehandedly fusing animation and reality. To debate Sky Captain’s storyline would be to miss the point: the power of Sky Captain lies in Conran’s cutting edge technology and peerless perspicacity.