Space Sweepers 2021

Space adventure film that starts on a high note but falls through in the second half. Have a nice world-building (I really liked the fact that here space age is multilingual) but suffers from terrible plotline. I don't have qualms with the plot being generic; the problem is it's rushed, incomplete, and tacked on.

The film follows a group of ragtag space scavengers (space sweepers) trying to make ends meet when they found a McGuffin (Dorothy) and try to figure out what to do with her.

Pretty decent premise to start the film with. In fact it did start with a banger space sequence where the scavengers race for getting the biggest haul to sell. However it had been off right from the start: the scene that preceded the scavengers competition was an exposition on how the big bad corporation has profited from the working classes and they struggle to make ends meet while the wealthy live a safe space life above the decaying earth. The exposition felt odd because right after that speech we get to see the lives of those working classes they talked about - and it was far from being meager and difficult. The good makeup of the casts don't help selling the 'tough life' narrative either.

The inconsistencies portrayed are consistent across the film, like it's struggling with the theme it's trying to portray. More than once the film tries to portray how our protagonists are being held hostage by debts (big numbers were shown), but then at one and another plot points (especially in the second half where it became pivotal to the climax), they just brushed it off, especially for the sake of portraying the protagonists' heroic comeback.

In a similar fashion, for a film that claims to be a critique against capitalism, the plot does not seem to understand how capitalism devalues the labor of the workers. For starters, the most obvious one is the absurdly ridiculous' plan of the villain to blow up Earth and blame it to the terrorist organization wherein Earth is where they get their workers. That's just complete nonsense only to make the villains appear cartoonishly/comically evil.

Speaking of villain, the big bad here is depicted to be a superhuman with some kind of power but we never get to see what it's supposed to be. They also hint that the villain exhibits some sort of contrived biological-determinist, utilitarian philosophy which seems to hint that actually it's not really about social class anyway, but "genetic defects"; however due to it being unnecessarily complicated and tacked on, it seems to serve as nothing more than a plot device to say that there is inequality. It kind of downplays the supposed critique against capitalism the film claims to have.

And speaking of tacked on... well, the film has a lot of it. The supposed terrorist organization turns out to be an "environmentalist" who just wants Earth to recover. What exactly they do to make that happen and why they are hunted are not exactly clear. The climax where the big bad's plan got revealed and leaked is kind of dumb and forced. You would imagine a multibillionaire who owned the conglomeration of media (they even mentioned this) would've prepared a PR spin and better security to not let his evil plan got out of his chambers. No way his fans would believe that "leak" instantly. See how Vought did it in The Boys or how Mao-Kikowksi did it in The Expanse. And, like I said before, the critique of capitalism itself feels really weak.

Okay, okay, some might say that it's a space action adventure film and plot isn't their strongest suite. So what about the action itself?

Choreography is bad, if not nonexistent at all. In the climax where our heroes fought the big bad's head of goons, there's almost no fight at all. It's just some camerawork when the hero got punched, another camerawork, then suddenly the hero turned the table and boom, she's dead. Other fight scenes are similar. Most of them consist of people getting beaten one-sidedly with no resistance from the other side. And there's one hilariously bad scene where Tae-ho (Song Joong-ki) who's supposed to be a child soldier, a prodigy who commanded the elites of the private army Space Force got cornered by a bunch of unarmed merchants, scavengers, and environmentalists who I assume have less combat experience than him.

The space fight and dogfight are no better. Well, the initial scavenger race is a banger, I give them that. But the others are not good. Especially not the final fight. Our protagonists and their allies of scavengers got the plot armor when they have to fight against squadrons of elite private army. Nobody died there except the baddies. Complete nonsense - makeshift spacetrucks' hull can survive better than elite spacefighters? They can maneuver better than train soldiers?

That being said,

The CGI is really good. Feels like Hollywood films, including the camerawork and all. World-building is quite rich and could serve as a good basis for a franchise. They have a trans robot and toy with the idea a little bit - a very refreshing take of the portrayal which would be loved by anyone familiar with cyberpunk and transhumanism genre.

The performances of the main casts are also good. Richard Armitage really sells his role as the big bad and Jin Sun-kyu as that tough uncle you can depend on. You can disregard the supporting casts though - they all feel really wooden. And despite trying to be on par with Hollywood films, I like that they still have the awkwardly Asian jokes (like fussing over how to bathe a toddler) and comically archetypical characters (the rebellious girl type, the prodigy type, the tough uncle type, the chattery overly concerned aunt type, and of course the child McGuffin).

Other than that there's not much to say about the film. It's a decent ride if you have almost 2,5 hours to spare, maybe during family gatherings. But I'm not going to revisit the film anytime soon. Well, maybe except to take screenshots.

Space Sweepers is lightyears better from recent Western space scifi shows

"Space Sweepers" is South Korea's first-ever space science fiction show. For their first venture into space, they did not disappoint and made sure audiences were awed by the show's deep story and unforgettable space adventure.

I. Story
The story started out as a typical Western space scifi. Humanity encountered a life threatening situation and the only way out was up, out there in outer space. Slowly and perfectly the Korean signature in storytelling and plots surfaced up and it started to get very interesting.

There was a grand or overarching story guiding Space Sweepers but they instead zoomed-in and told the story from a human perspective. This approach allowed them to tackle the questions from the vantage point of ordinary humans, attaching the audiences to the characters in ways not possible from a "bigger picture" method. A story about a crew of "Space Sweepers" but at the same time it was not about them.

It is rare to see this type of story and storytelling in live-action movies considering the limited time available and yet they were able to flesh out the characters, presented a family relationship plots, questioned human moralities and ethics, and explored the notion about "the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few".

II. Acting/Cast
The casting was excellent. Song Joong Ki, playing as "Tae Ho", and Kim Tae Ri, playing as "Captain Jang", are two popular and veteran Korean actors. They were joined in by Jin Seon Kyu as "Tiger Park", Yoo Hae Jin as the Robot, and the child actress Park Ye Rin as "Dorothy". Five actors who complimented each others' acting style enabled them to bring the story closer to the audience.

Kim Tae Ri is best known from her 2016 movie "The Handmaiden" and the Netflix TV series "Mr. Sunshine" in 2018. Despite the huge jump from historical romance genre to a space scifi action and adventure, Kim Tae Ri has proven once again her talent in acting. She showed her character's strength and fierceness and yet behind it all she was caring and loving.

Song Joong Ki is well known from his major role in the hugely popular 2016 TV series "Descendants of the Sun". He masterfully played his character, a man who lost his daughter in a tragedy and ended up as a sweeper of space debris to make his living. Throughout the movie, he showed perfectly the thoughts and goals of his character despite of what was in front of him. His emotions and expressions were in check, thus completing the aura of his character while at the same time letting the audience feel his sadness and difficult choices.

Special mention is the child actress Park Ye Rin. She is technically a newbie in the industry, having only appeared as a guest in a 2020 TV series. Having thrown in a blockbuster film this early would have a huge challenge for her and yet she amazingly showed that she was born an actress. She played as "Dorothy", one of the key characters in this film. This being a space scifi, which means they had a lot of filming in front of green screens, Park Ye Rin was not distracted and was able to deliver her dialogues and interacted with her co-stars naturally. Oh, did I not say that she's only 7 years old?

III. Production
They did not shy away from giving this a budget. The superb visual effects, cgi, and editing, definitely placed this movie equal in rank with Western shows like "Star Trek" and "Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy" to name two.

It was also a brilliant idea to bring in actors from different nationalities and to use their native languages. This is rarely done and is simply explained as some magic or technology like a "universal translator". But that's not where it ends … even though they have a "universal translator", they did not resorted to "English" or "Korean" as a "universal language". They showed all directors in the world how to properly portray different languages even if there is a "universal translator" available.

That deserves a huge mention especially for a show which concerns multiple nationalities, languages, and cultures--the planet Earth. The flow of the story was not broken even though the characters were speaking different languages. Everything was flowing smoothly, this is how it actually will be like if "universal translators" become a reality. Well done!

IV. Conclusion
While this is a space science fiction film, the story was about you and me, being a human, and the relationships we build in each of our adventures. This is what "Space Sweepers" was about. It is about you and me. Our humanity. Our frailties. The challenges we face every single day and how to ultimately triumph (or not).

Can you guess how many languages were spoken and nationalities represented in "Space Sweepers"?

Originally posted on my blog: https://youronly.one/yuki/review-space-sweepers-2021-202137/ under a CC-BY-SA 4.0 International License.