Space Sweepers

A sci-fi flick with a surprisingly serious story about weighty stuff and with a villain who’s a real psychopath and a dangerous asshole. Unfortunately, it doesn’t have the balls to be proper hard sci-fi and pretty much every aspect was subjected to some sort of childish facelift – from the visuals to the characters to the tone of the finale. As a result, Space Sweepers feels like a compromise that will offend hardly anyone, but will also thrill hardly anyone. The potential, however, was higher. Yeah, and at least half an hour of the runtime is redundant. (07.02.2021)

Space Sweepers is a bit of a mixed bag. On one hand, the South Koreans bring an interesting sci-fi concept to life with some genuinely stunning digital effects. But then they throw in this childlike tone that leaves you wondering if you're watching a serious space adventure or a sci-fi flick aimed at 12-year-olds. It feels like a missed opportunity at times. Some moments are incredibly epic, while others just come off as overly childish. (08.02.2021)

An original and visually impressive sci-fi caper with a clear Blomkamp's signature. It's a bit of Star Wars, Elysium, and Guardians of the Galaxy, but as a whole, the film feels fresh and very unique. For only 21 million USD, the Koreans serve something that in Hollywood would cost 150 million, and that is admirable. Set in the year 2092, the film focuses on the crew of the ship Victory, who are space waste collectors. Soon, they come across a humanoid robot little girl, who is considered a weapon of mass destruction, and they get involved in a risky business. The film has a decent pace, beautiful and grand shots of space and various stations, solid action (although there could have been more), occasional humor, likable main characters, and a villain like out of Marvel. I could imagine it being a bit grittier, darker, and more action-packed, but this choice is also good. The combo of Netflix and South Korea is usually a guarantee of good quality. Story****, Action****, Humor**, Violence*, Entertainment****, Music****, Visuals*****, Atmosphere****, Tension***. 7.5/10. (06.02.2021)

I get the feeling from Space Sweepers that the Koreans are blazing a new trail with this one. A little uncertain, cautious, maybe with the promise of great things in the future. They're using tried and tested characters and plot and only taking risks occasionally, just a little. I'm not exactly their target audience and if the film weren't Korean, it probably wouldn’t hit the mark, but in the end I enjoyed watching it quite a bit. (02.12.2021)

A visual delight that, while taken down a little by its genre duality, still entertains. It seems like a serious sci-fi full of dead bodies and about sacrificing your nearest and dearest with grafted-on humor from Guardians of the Galaxy. This means that for instance an emotive scene with a dying girl is followed by a scene with a robot harpooning space ships. The action in an environment that reminds one of Blomkamp’s Elysium is super; not trying to dis Netflix, but this really needs a movie theater screen. (09.02.2021)

A Korean sci-fi space adventure on Netflix? That's definitely something new. I have to give credit to the creators for coming up with a fairly original idea for the main story and not trying to copy the competition, so thumbs up for that. I was quite impressed by the film’s visual aspect. It’s mostly a captivating spectacle, and you'll be surprised by the budget when you see the results—they managed to pull off a small miracle with that money. Despite these positives, I’m quite disappointed with the final outcome. The script is quite shaky, and the main villain falls into the category of RIDICULOUS AND COMIC CHARACTERS, which was a major letdown. The central quartet really has to do its best to salvage things, but it doesn’t always succeed (there are moments where an attempted joke falls flat, and you just stare at the screen in confusion). And the ending caps it all off; I understand why they went in that direction, but when your conclusion defies even the most basic logic, something is wrong. The setup was good, but there’s still a lot left to refine. For me, it’s a 6/10. (11.02.2021)