There must have been a lot of complaints about the Space Sweepers script. In particular, the plot is limited to a mediocre repetition of the formulaic elements typical of the sci-fi / space opera genre. I don’t deny it. The weakness is true. But how Space Sweepers, as South Korea’s first space blockbuster with only $ 24 million (that’s not even enough to finance Annabelle’s latest installment), position itself not far behind Hollywood’s hundreds of million dollar titles, clearly needs to be appreciated.
In 2092, the Earth is no longer habitable, so humans must flee to outer space, inhabiting the paradise created by businessmen who like to “play God”, but only the rich have the right to occupy this paradise, while the poor are left waiting to die at the “bottom” . Who knows how many hundred films have used the same premise. Most of the audience must have memorized by heart, how such a story begins, culminates, then ends, including all the twists in it. The script made by director Jo Sung-hee (A Werewolf Boy) with Yoon Seung-min and Yoo-kang Seo-ae did not try to modify the formula above. Best Movie Site
Then besides visuals, what is the appeal of the film, so that the 136 minute duration can be justified. As with most Korean films, the answer is “character”. The filmmaker of “Negeri Ginseng” is indeed good at producing colorful characters, no matter how weak the story is. Our protagonist is named Tae-ho. Played by Song Joong-ki, who has recently kept trying to shake off his “pretty boy” image on both the big screen and television, Tae-ho never gave up looking for his daughter who was lost in space.
Tae-ho is a crew member of Victory, a garbage collection plane led by Captain Jang (Kim Tae-ri). The captain gives Tae-ri another chance to show off another charm, portraying a drunk with minimal responsibility, but with sunglasses plus gestures and a look full of confidence, Captain Jang is the coolest character here. Then there is Tiger Park (Jin Seon-kyu), a former gangster boss with the persona of “Hello Kitty’s security face,” and a robot named Bubs, who comes alive thanks to Yoo Hae-jin’s brilliant voice. Bubs has another charm. In their premiere space opera film, South Korea, which is synonymous with conservative ideas, has in fact dared to include characters who oppose gender barriers.
Even though the script wasn’t creative enough to have memorable sentences, a whole lineup of players was able to turn the chatter that was boring on paper, entertainment whenever they could. The main conflict comes when the Victory crew finds Dorothy (Park Ye-rin), a humanoid robot who, although from the outside looks like an ordinary child, cannot be trusted to be mass damaged. Dorothy is the target of UTS, the company that creates asylum for mankind in outer space, which is owned by James Sullivan (Richard Armitage). Movie Review
When a boy character appears in a post-apocalyptic film, he is likely to be a new beginning for human life, either metaphorically or literally. Dorothy was among the second. He is able to make flowers (and all kinds of plants) bloom in an instant. All because the nanobots in Dorothy’s body communicate with other nanoparticles. How can? Apparently scientists couldn’t explain it. In other words, the writer of this film script simplifies Dorothy’s strength, which will later be used as an easy problem-solving tool.
Regarding the spectacle, Sung-hee’s directing is still relatively raw. Several times, the way he packaged the mandatory moments of the opera room, for example when the protagonist’s plane snaked through space trash and enemy attacks, made it difficult for the audience to understand what was going on. As a result, the intensity often fails to reach. But Sung-hee was able to realize Space Sweepers’ main goal, which is a magnificent visual presentation. Everything is grand, whether it is outer space and everything in it, to the nightclubs where the DJ booths emit massive electric rays. A successful vision has been realized, also thanks to the high quality of CGI, even with a figure that is only enough to pay the basic salary of Robert Downey Jr. in Avengers: Endgame. I am ready to look forward to the next big offering of South Korean cinema. Top Movie