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Manila Bulletin devider Entertainment devider Celebrities devider STREAMING REVIEW: Space Sweepers

STREAMING REVIEW: Space Sweepers

Published Feb 6, 2021 08:45 pm

The latest movie offering from Korea is Space Sweepers, a Sci-Fi film about a distant future where humanity has spread its wings and left Earth behind, firstly creating colonies in the sky, and then setting its sight firmly on Mars. At least that’s what it says in the infomercial. Much like Elysium, the world of Space Sweepers is not always so perfect and pretty.

And in this imperfect future of space we find our ragtag crew of the scavenger ship Victory, led by a sullen ex-pirate Captain Jang (Kim Tae-Ri), ace pilot Tae-Ho (Song Joong-Ki), engineer Tiger Park (Jin Sun-Kyu) and a repurposed military bot named Bubs (voiced by Yoo Jai-Jin).

Life is tough in outer space, but somehow the crew are able to eke out a living as one of the top sweepers, essentially space junk salvagers, around. Their mundane existence take a turn for the interesting when in one of their salvage jobs they find what appears to be a 7-year-old girl.

Their lives also take a turn for the dangerous, as the girl turns out to be not so ordinary, and some very powerful and influential people come looking for her.

There is a very international feel to the film, which this reviewer appreciates. There are Russians, Americans, and Europeans living in the colonies and out in space, all adding to the multi-national vibe. They even managed to snag Richard Armitage, best known as Thorin Oakenshield in the Hobbit Trilogy. And if you’re quick with your ear you can even catch a Pinoy tell the crew to place and order or leave.

The feel of the film is very western, very multi-national, and you can tell just by watching that the intention was to make it appeal to a wider audience outside of Korea. In fact, aside from the Korean flag proudly emblazoned on the side of the Victory, the movie does not scream made-in-Korea at all.

The visual effects, provided by Seoul-based Dexter Studios, are impressive, with vast vistas, space fights, tons of glowing lights and holograms, all the bells and whistles one would expect from a space oriented sci-fi-show.

But perhaps too much so. It felt like more philosophy was adopted when it came to showcasing the visual effects. They were very good, but simply felt over the top at times.

The filmmakers were obviously going for a Guardians of the Galaxy feel, where a group of mismatched misfits come together to form a family, and they almost made it. There could have just been something more to invest in with the characters. Story-wise it doesn’t break any new ground, but was still interesting enough.

All in all a respectable foray into the world of science fiction films. Strong concept and high production quality make for a fun watch. In fact, I could see the world of the Space Sweepers as a K-Drama series. Now that would be something I’d watch too.

Space Sweepers is available starting Feb 5 on Netflix.

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