Space Sweepers - Amazing First Attempt of Korean Space Blockbuster Movie

I originally wanted to watch this movie on the day it was premiered, but due to some unknown reasons another movie that was supposed to be released earlier was only available on the same day. So I opted to watch that one first. Anyway, this was interesting to me because it was said to be the first Korean space blockbuster movie. Well we should start with it now.

Brief Story Line

Set in the future when the earth was nearly uninhabitable, an organization called UTS led by scientist/entrepreneur James Sullivan (Richard Armitage - Ocean's 8, The Lodge etc) managed to build a place to live out of space called Home. UTS also had the ambition to turn Mars into new earth, however only few people who happened to be the rich could move there.

To ensure Home was safe from the junks out of space, they were being collected by collectors called space sweepers who would sell them for money. One of them was a Korean space ship called Victory with crews consisted of the no nonsense Captain Jang (Kim Tae-ri - The Handmaiden, Mr. Sunshine TV series etc), a former space guard Tae-ho (Song Joong-ki - The Battleship Island, The Innocent Man etc), Tiger Park (Jin Seon-kyu - Extreme Job, The Outlaws etc) and an android called Bubs (Yoo Hae-jin - Confidential Assignment, A Taxi Driver etc).

When the crew of Victory came across an android in the form of a little girl referred to as Dorothy (Park Ye-rin) and said to have a bomb planted inside her, they decided to make money due to large bounty on Dorothy. However, their supposedly easy task apparently was more dangerous and complicated than what they bargained for. So what would happen to Victory's crew? Find them all in this wonderful space action adventure movie.

End of Brief Story Line

I just have one word to describe this first Korean space blockbuster movie: WOW! I say the people who made this movie possible did a really fantastic job and they must be applaued for creating a great and wonderful film filled with amazing special effects, awesome story, interesting characters, and some nice background music & drama as well.

The film actually started off pretty standard with the intro of earth's almost uninhabitable condition and people had to move out of space. which did not really stood out in originality. But as soon as we were introduced with the rag tag crew of Victory whose job was to collect space junks, then the film became more interesting. As the story progressed and the android girl Dorothy appeared (nicely played by the newcomer Park Ye-rin), I could already guessed how it would play out but somehow I was still intrigued by it.

I loved how the background of each character was revealed which made them more relatable to us. The dynamic of the crews were lovely to see as they seemed to compliment one another. It was also fun to watch them bickering and oh, I really like the robot Bubs as he would provide brief dry humor with his comments. Even my wife thought I was watching a comedy movie as sometimes I would laugh out loud. 

What I liked about the movie aside from the characters were the special effects which I thought was well done. If I only caught glimpses of space battle scenes, I could mistaken this to be a major Hollywood blockbuster movie. The background music was fantastic too, enhancing the emotion we felt during certain scenes. And since the story was quite captivating, the duration of > 2 hours did not feel too long.

What surprised me though was the climax. It brought a lot of emotion which I actually felt was absolutely wonderful. However, it was quite short-lived as the director Jo Sung-hee (Phantom Detective, A Werewolf Boy etc) apparently had different ideas. Personally I would like it better with "that" ending as I thought it would be a more fitting finale and probably would leave a much stronger impression. But then again, I could also understand if the ending was done in such a manner as it would likely be better received by audience. Btw, there was no mid or post end credit scene in here in case you are wondering.

Overall this was an entertaining movie which totally impressed me as the first Korean space blockbuster film. It's a pity they were not able to release it in theaters due to pandemic, but good thing the international distribution right was acquired by Netflix, making it easily accessible for audience. I also think fans of Korean movies/series would love this one as the cast were filled with some well known and multiple award nominees. So if you like space adventure movies, this one would definitely be an interesting option.

Mike's movie moments rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars