Even though this film owes a lot to films like "Raiders of the Lost Ark," it has more than enough originality of its own to make it a great movie going experience. First time director Kerry Conran pulls out all the stops and creates a world taken right off the front of an old "Amazing Stories" magazine, complete with retro robots and ray guns. This is a sci-fi geeks dream come true.

All adventure and suspense, "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow" proves that special effects and tons of art direction don't have to mean that a movie is dull.

It might just be that Conran's screenplay has some wit and charm of its own.

That's the real surprise here. There is genuine chemistry between the romantic leads, Jude Law and Gwyneth Paltrow as they rush around a 40's styled world in search of Dr. Totenkopf , the resident evil genius.

Paltrow is a nosy reporter following Jude Law, Sky Captain, into the stratosphere for the story of the century. The two narrowly escape disaster again and again with the help of ultra-nerd Giovanni Ribisi, and space cadet Angelina Jolie. Along the way they fall in love giving this adventure a sweet taste for all those couples in the audience.

There is so much to look at and marvel at here. I don't want to give too much of the story away, but I think it's fair to say this is one of the few movies the come out this year that begs to be seen a second and maybe a third time. To put it simply, this film is totally awesome!

The use of muted coloring, sort of like an old tinted photograph, helps to sustain a mood of otherworldliness. If "Sky Captain" doesn't win an academy award for art direction, well then, we will all know that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is a bogus institution. Oh, wait, we already know that.

My only real complaint is that there wasn't more of this movie to watch. That may be waiting on the DVD. On the other hand, it's probably a good thing that you are left wanting. Too much of a good thing, as we all know, can be too much.

Do yourself and your family a favor and go see this mega-production on the big screen. It will pay you back in spades.

My own secret hope, and it's probably not too far off the mark, is that the success of this latest "raiders-like" adventure will lead to more high quality sci-fi and perhaps even a resurgence of magazines like "Amazing Stories" and "Weird Tales."

Then again, I always want more of the good stuff.

The

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