Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. (2004) Film Review. Directed byKerry Conran, distributed by Paramount Pictures.

A film that was generally considered a flop,with a so called $70,000,000 dollar budget,and only making back $57,000,000 worldwide, even though the Director made it on a budget of $3,000,000,and has no idea where the final figure came from,as he had all the receipts,and books.

A landmark film nonetheless,with no set,no studio design,filmed entirely on green screen,using CGI to render all the background,and special effects later.

Starring the on form Jude Law,at the time,after being In Road To Perdition, Stephen Spielberg' s AI and the remake of Alfie.

With Gwyneth Paltrow,Angelina Jolie,and using a CGI mastered face of Sir Lawrence Olivier,as the robot creator,trying to take over the World.

This is a simple story, like it was taken out of some boys comic strip in the fifties, of a  Biggles style hero,ready to take on any bad guys to save the world.

I will admit I never liked this first time round,the whole idea of no set,no real background,I could not get my head round the whole idea. But going back to it recently, I can see the appeal,and the genius it was at the time.

Whilst it has been done since in Sin City, The Spirit, Kung Fury to name a few,I believe this film set the bar for others to follow. And that is why it should be applauded for its achievement at the time.

With this being the Directors debut,and only Hollywood film,it is such a shame,he never made another film,as he was a great visionary. Maybe he never liked the whole experience of making films, maybe interference by producer's,we will never know,but Kerry Conran was somebody with great ideas,that I would love to see going back to his old Indie routes to make another feature.

3/5***