I Believe She Can Fly
This weekend's review: Skymaster.
Based on the summary I’d read, I’d assumed that Skymaster (which has an insanely large title in its native Danish) was one of those fantasy tales where an ordinary person gets drawn into an extraordinary hidden world. That’s a trope I like when done right, so I was more than happy to give it a try. And while it was certainly charming and had the fairy tale quality I was expecting, a lot of the other elements came as more of a surprise.
Our focal character is Kalle (Janus Dissing Rathke) a young boy who has a happy home life with his mom and dad (Anne-Grethe Bjarup Riis and Anders W. Berthhelsen) and spends a lot of time playing with his Smartyboy, a toy that looks like a robot from a 50’s sci-fi movie but apparently has the abilities of a smartphone. One day, his parents decide that they want to have another baby, which Kalle is surprisingly (and refreshingly) accepting of. However, the baby (named Little, pronounced and spelled as “Lille”) is born with large skin flaps that look like wings, and which grow right along with her. Kalle’s parents love her as is and turn down offers or suggestions to have the wings removed, while Kalle is convinced that Lille will be able to use the wings to fly. While she does actually take off while he’s got her set up on his bike and after he yells out the word “Skymaster” (the name of an airplane game he likes to play on his Smartyboy), a series of accidents, as well as a visit from Karen (Bodil Jørgensen), a member of the Danish equivalent of the Homeowner’s Association, convince the parents to take Lille in for plastic surgery. Kalle finds out after they’ve already left, and hurries off on his bicycle to try to stop it and prove that Lille can fly before the 8 am surgery. Along the way, he runs into a series of odd characters, most notably Alf (Nicolas Bro) a man with a fear of leaving the house and the unfortunate ability to destroy everything he touches. The end result is a combination of a race against the clock and several mostly unrelated vignettes with the odd characters, which actually fit together better than you’d expect.
Like I said in the introductory paragraph, the movie is very charming. All of the actors play their parts well, and while things border on the saccharine, they never tip over into outright cloying. And if you like fairy tale elements, like (basically) magical items or quirky characters with unusual abilities, you’ll probably enjoy those as well. There are, however, several elements that don’t quite gel with the rest of the movie. For example, instead of Kalle’s world starting out ordinary and then getting more magical once Lille is born, there are scenes that seem to have fantasy elements even before that point, which aren’t commented on by the characters and yet seem to clash with the reaction to Lille’s wings later on. I’m thinking specifically of the scenes where the parents decide they want to have another baby, and start floating and flying around the room, and a sight gag where, during a conversation between Kalle and the girl next door, we see his father build a fancy playhouse in the yard in the space of a minute. Then there’s the Smartyboy, which feels far too advanced for either a kid’s toy or something we’d have in the real world (it also winds up dropping out of the plot despite being a major aspect for three-quarters of the movie, and gets a moment that I’d bet you was inspired by 2001: A Space Odyssey). And while Alf’s destructive “powers” fit in with the second half of the movie, when things take a definite turn for the fantastical, they’re noticeably inconsistent. Sometimes he can’t touch a plate without it breaking, other times he can manage the dishes just fine (generally when he’s eating). It basically only becomes relevant when the plot demands it, which on the one hand is understandable (an ability like that would make it impossible to live) but which is such a big part of his character that you can’t help but notice when the condition isn’t manifesting. Even for a movie where you have to suspend your disbelief, these bits are definitely coming close to the breaking point.
However, none of these are actual dealbreakers. Once you enter the “road trip” portion of the movie, you’re mostly able to just sit back and enjoy the oddities, accepting them at face value given the nature of the story. It allows you to enjoy other elements too, like the set dressing or the songs. Oh yeah, did I mention that in addition to everything else, this movie is a musical? Weird as it is when the characters first start bursting into song (it doesn’t help that the first number is the one with the flying around), you quickly get used to it, and most of the songs are at least a little fun. In fact, one song, featuring a rescue from a woman and her seven friends, is pretty awesome; I certainly wouldn’t mind adding it to my collection. And speaking of Snow White (who is actually named Snow White and is played by Caroline Henderson), she and her not quite dwarves are the only element in this story that are from a recognizable fairy tale. It does make them seem somewhat like the odd people out, but then again, perhaps the other characters are variations from Danish folklore that I’m not familiar with. If so, I’d happily read them, given the way they’re presented here.
While the movie may be too much of a muchness for some, I’d definitely recommend giving it a look. It’s breezy, family friendly, and creative, with the added bonus of enough fun weirdness to appeal to those of us who like a touch of the bizarre. So check it out if you can and let it transport you to a familiar, if slightly off-kilter, world.
Based on the summary I’d read, I’d assumed that Skymaster (which has an insanely large title in its native Danish) was one of those fantasy tales where an ordinary person gets drawn into an extraordinary hidden world. That’s a trope I like when done right, so I was more than happy to give it a try. And while it was certainly charming and had the fairy tale quality I was expecting, a lot of the other elements came as more of a surprise.
Our focal character is Kalle (Janus Dissing Rathke) a young boy who has a happy home life with his mom and dad (Anne-Grethe Bjarup Riis and Anders W. Berthhelsen) and spends a lot of time playing with his Smartyboy, a toy that looks like a robot from a 50’s sci-fi movie but apparently has the abilities of a smartphone. One day, his parents decide that they want to have another baby, which Kalle is surprisingly (and refreshingly) accepting of. However, the baby (named Little, pronounced and spelled as “Lille”) is born with large skin flaps that look like wings, and which grow right along with her. Kalle’s parents love her as is and turn down offers or suggestions to have the wings removed, while Kalle is convinced that Lille will be able to use the wings to fly. While she does actually take off while he’s got her set up on his bike and after he yells out the word “Skymaster” (the name of an airplane game he likes to play on his Smartyboy), a series of accidents, as well as a visit from Karen (Bodil Jørgensen), a member of the Danish equivalent of the Homeowner’s Association, convince the parents to take Lille in for plastic surgery. Kalle finds out after they’ve already left, and hurries off on his bicycle to try to stop it and prove that Lille can fly before the 8 am surgery. Along the way, he runs into a series of odd characters, most notably Alf (Nicolas Bro) a man with a fear of leaving the house and the unfortunate ability to destroy everything he touches. The end result is a combination of a race against the clock and several mostly unrelated vignettes with the odd characters, which actually fit together better than you’d expect.
Like I said in the introductory paragraph, the movie is very charming. All of the actors play their parts well, and while things border on the saccharine, they never tip over into outright cloying. And if you like fairy tale elements, like (basically) magical items or quirky characters with unusual abilities, you’ll probably enjoy those as well. There are, however, several elements that don’t quite gel with the rest of the movie. For example, instead of Kalle’s world starting out ordinary and then getting more magical once Lille is born, there are scenes that seem to have fantasy elements even before that point, which aren’t commented on by the characters and yet seem to clash with the reaction to Lille’s wings later on. I’m thinking specifically of the scenes where the parents decide they want to have another baby, and start floating and flying around the room, and a sight gag where, during a conversation between Kalle and the girl next door, we see his father build a fancy playhouse in the yard in the space of a minute. Then there’s the Smartyboy, which feels far too advanced for either a kid’s toy or something we’d have in the real world (it also winds up dropping out of the plot despite being a major aspect for three-quarters of the movie, and gets a moment that I’d bet you was inspired by 2001: A Space Odyssey). And while Alf’s destructive “powers” fit in with the second half of the movie, when things take a definite turn for the fantastical, they’re noticeably inconsistent. Sometimes he can’t touch a plate without it breaking, other times he can manage the dishes just fine (generally when he’s eating). It basically only becomes relevant when the plot demands it, which on the one hand is understandable (an ability like that would make it impossible to live) but which is such a big part of his character that you can’t help but notice when the condition isn’t manifesting. Even for a movie where you have to suspend your disbelief, these bits are definitely coming close to the breaking point.
However, none of these are actual dealbreakers. Once you enter the “road trip” portion of the movie, you’re mostly able to just sit back and enjoy the oddities, accepting them at face value given the nature of the story. It allows you to enjoy other elements too, like the set dressing or the songs. Oh yeah, did I mention that in addition to everything else, this movie is a musical? Weird as it is when the characters first start bursting into song (it doesn’t help that the first number is the one with the flying around), you quickly get used to it, and most of the songs are at least a little fun. In fact, one song, featuring a rescue from a woman and her seven friends, is pretty awesome; I certainly wouldn’t mind adding it to my collection. And speaking of Snow White (who is actually named Snow White and is played by Caroline Henderson), she and her not quite dwarves are the only element in this story that are from a recognizable fairy tale. It does make them seem somewhat like the odd people out, but then again, perhaps the other characters are variations from Danish folklore that I’m not familiar with. If so, I’d happily read them, given the way they’re presented here.
While the movie may be too much of a muchness for some, I’d definitely recommend giving it a look. It’s breezy, family friendly, and creative, with the added bonus of enough fun weirdness to appeal to those of us who like a touch of the bizarre. So check it out if you can and let it transport you to a familiar, if slightly off-kilter, world.