More people should talk about this movie. Sky Captain And The World Of Tomorrow is a great example of retro science fiction, a homage to the 1940s period of science fiction and a good story besides. I wish the colors were better or just embrace the black and white, but nothing’s perfect. The movie did introduce new forms of digital effects work but sadly doesn’t get the same treatment as The Matrix in this period. Sadly the movie was buried in competition at the theaters but you really should check it out.
And then check out the new art book coming from Dynamite. It promises to go over the history and influences of the movie and the effects created for the movie that are still used in today’s films.
2021 was not the best time to go to the movies. Even if you lived in an area that didn’t have major lockdowns you were still scared of the new forms of the 2020 plague and it’s not like the movies have been worth seeing. The reviews I’ve seen for modern movies have ranged from Pet Character Syndrome and its various sociopolitical counterparts, more not-stalgias and namesakes, sequels so unnecessary the creators don’t want to do it, and people who just don’t care overall. Every now and then a good movie sneaks through but it has to be an original property made by someone who actually wants to tell a good story. That seems to be on the decline.
Godzilla Vs. Kong came out when theaters were practicing social distancing even if the state wasn’t in full lockdown, and wearing a mask makes enjoying your popcorn difficult. That’s on top of the rising prices of theaters and snacks and the problem of people who think they’re in the theater of the Satellite Of Love rather than the mall. Streaming is the dominant form of watching movies followed by regular television and maybe somewhere a physical DVD or Blu-Ray. This movie came in at a bad time, and I was still recovering from non-plague related illnesses so I didn’t make it to the theater either. Meanwhile the HBO Preview Weekend recording has been sitting on my DVR for months, so today I finally got to watch it.
RELEASE DATE: 2021
RELEASED BY: Warner Brothers and Legendary Pictures
Chapter By Chapter features me reading one chapter of the selected book at the time and reviewing it as if I were reviewing an episode of a TV show or an issue of a comic. There will be spoilers if you haven’t read to the point I have, and if you’ve read further I ask that you don’t spoil anything further into the book. Think of it as read-along book club.
First, let’s set the mood.
Well, now that I’ve burned that theme song even further into my brain trying to find a clean intro that wasn’t the stupid “remastered edition” or one of the Toonami intros let’s finally start with this book. Last week we looked at the back of the book plot of the story, in which we’ll have five different factions feuding over Jonathan Wolf’s ship. First there’s the government, who thinks it’s not to late to stop the Invid Sensor Nebula because they never checked the barn door. Then there’s the military, who just sees more shiny weapons. New to our story are the Starchildren, who see this as a space taxi, and the Shimada family, who actually think you can reason with the unreasonable despite two wars already disproving it and everything I’m sure the Zentraedi and Tirolains have told them, plus the new info I’m sure Wolf brought back. Finally there’s Dana, who is a faction unto herself.
We know this story is ultimately to get the surviving heroes of the Second War out of the picture so they don’t have to die in the third war yet we don’t have to explain why they didn’t take part, while also getting Wolf where he needs to be in the show. It’s the same reason Robotech II: The Sentinels exists, though not in the intended form. I think we can assume Dana wins, but the question is how she wins and what happens to the other four factions…and will the two new busybodies do anything worth caring about? So let’s drop into the first chapter and begin this series of reviews.
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I brought this one up for conversation. There are a few examples that are a bit debatable but I think overall he may have a good point.
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Posted by ShadowWing Tronix on February 21, 2022 in Movie Spotlight and tagged commentary.
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