5 Reasons Sky Captain & The World Of Tomorrow Should Not Be Forgotten

2. Strong Cast

For a film which impressed mainly because of its visuals, it is possible to overlook the actors who starred in the production. In Sky Captain however, the casting of Jude Law and Gwyneth Paltrow as the central protagonists should not be overlooked in any way. The pairing of Law and Paltrow was a brilliant decision, as both give great performances and fit perfectly into the story. One of the first characters to be cast, Jude Law was so impressed by Conran's short film that he became a producer for the film. Identifying that Joe 'Sky Captain' Sullivan and Polly Perkins were strong characters, Law asserted "What was clear was that at the center was a really great cinematic relationship, which you could put into any genre and it would work. You know, the kind of bickering relationship. I always like to call it The African Queen meets Buck Rogers." Based on his interpretation of the character, Law persuaded Gwyneth Paltrow to join the production as he believed her to be perfect for the role. Paltrow expressed her enthusiasm for the project, highlighting the uniqueness of the film, "I thought that this is the time to do a movie like this where it's kind of breaking into new territory and it's not your basic formulaic action-adventure movie." Paltrow's inspired performance in an empowered female lead is one of the strongest aspects of the film, as she displays the characteristics of an archetypal hero. Other notable cast members include Angelina Jolie, who portrays a British commander, and Michael Gambon as the Editor of Perkins' New York based newspaper. Perhaps the most interesting cast member was Laurence Olivier, who played Dr Totenkopf, the main antagonist. The legendary English actor had not been alive for nearly 13 years, but archived BBC footage was used to recreate an image of Olivier and thus add another title to his filmography.