Space Sweepers (2021)

GREAT cinematography & CGI but a bit of a lackluster story line

So I just finished this movie and I was hoping for so much more with regards to the story line and origins of the whole plot but did not get any of that, I am the type of person that likes to know why things happened and how they happened but this story did not provide that in the whole duration of the movie HOWEVER:

I loved the acting, some aspects of the story and most of all the CGI of this film - the quality was so damn good it felt like I was watching in the cinemas. One thing I did like about the story line was how they made the main antagonist a white man - whose aim was to colonize another planet whilst being evil in the process because if you look at history that is the most accurate depiction of events ever lol.

Overall I give it a 8/10 because the cast worked really well together and I enjoyed the integration of other countries / languages and races as well :)

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Slow start, then lots of action and character building

My first impression based on the trailer:”Is this a Marvel movie?” The outer space and the unique characters that gave the Guardian of Galaxy vibe.

Story
From the the CG is overwhelming in positive light. Instantly feels like a blockbuster movie.
The start was a bit confusing as in which direction the movie is going to and what is happening.

Plain text in the beginning didn’t got me directly immersed in the movie. However, some reveal scenes could have been moved to the beginning to start of the movie to add more impact and understand at least the main character’s situation and where we are going to.

To me the beginning (not sure how far into the movie approx 30-60 min in the movie is character/world building. To get immersed into the world of the movie. Then the story moves at more advancing pace and one can expect lots of awesome action.
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Acting/Cast
Cast is amazing and the main characters have portrayed lead roles in Korean series.
Their acting and action scenes were enough for me to feel immersed and relate to their character. The back story also had more impact as it felt sincere and true.
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Music
Unlike most Korean series which has many songs. The movie has many background music and it just serves its purpose to give that immersive experience. The sounds were blowing me off the sofa :D
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Rewatch Value
Maybe once in a 3-5 years it could be rewatched. I don’t like movies with a slow start.... so I probably won’t rewatch the movie.
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Overall
I find the movie more enjoyable once the introductions were done. Actions are definitely the highlights of the movie!
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Sequel?
Space Sweepers does have the potential to continue!

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It was a good shot at attempting a new genre for South Korea

Space Sweepers Movie Review

Not bad for Korea's First Ever Space Related Sci-Fi, although I kind of expected it to be an All Korean Cast coz they kind of marketed it that way. Either way it was a good attempt at the genre but the story-telling felt a little bit westernized I tried to search for the screenwriter but I only found the director (which was of course Korean). The villain was not that well established and kind of just there to drive the decisions and the plot of the main characters. A little bit disappointed yes, but the visual effects team did a really great job. I wish I could've known more of the other main characters aside from the brushed up explanations during the face off with the villain. It was just a little too on the nose description. Over-all the space chasing did give me some adrenaline to enjoy, the actors did very well on their roles and its a pretty fun movie to watch with your family.

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Entertaining but not amazing

Lead actors were awesome, not surprisingly. The acting of the side characters such as Pierre and the Black Foxes was lackluster at best. The space fight scenes were pretty good. I wish they would have expanded on the villain a bit more, how he had lived so long, how he had come into power of the entire planet, what was with his hulking out? As the main antagonist, he really had no back story or development. I would have enjoyed the movie more if they had explored his character more. Overall, the movie was entertaining and I enjoyed it, but I probably won’t rewatch.

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A good movie with some flaws

Space Sweepers is a fun, light watch, speacially for those who like the found familly trope.

The story is quite good, albeit not particularly innovative. I liked the idea of focusing on space garbage men who are allowed in to clean but never as citizens. I also enjoyed how the overall dirtiness of our main leads surroundings contrasts with the clean sets of space citizens. The ideia that a corporation could have the power to create a nation and decide who is allowed in and who is not is a good premise for a sci-fi movie. Even though it's an action movie, I think Space Sweepers does particularly good with it's more dramatic/ touching scenes. The characters feelings are believable and you understand their struggles. The inclusion of people from many different countries, all speaking different languages was a plus for me. It made the world more believable and diverse even thought it opened the door to some bad acting which might annoy some viewers. Personally I found that the bad acting from some of the non-korean actors actually fitted their characters.
Of all the cast I was only familiar with Kim Tae Ri's work (she's such an amazing actress) but overall I think the main cast did a good and convincing job with the script they were given. Our team of space sweepers is quite entertaining to watch and appear to be nuanced. I use the term appear because I feel that even thought these characters were written as having complex personalities and motivations, with flaws and qualities, the execution (for reasons I will discuss bellow) didn't quite hit the mark. It's rather ironic that the most complex character was Bubs, a robot. Even so, I rather liked this ragtag team and their interactions with each other and with Dorothy. Speaking of Dorothy, child actors can be hit or miss but Park Ye Rin did a good job, mostly in being cute and charming which was pretty much all that was asked of her.
However, Space Sweepers has two main flaws that might affect your viewing experience negatively, depending on how much you care about these things. The first and, in my opinion, main flaw of the movie is it's directing and editing. I'm not familiar with Jo Sung Hee's, the director, work but, from what I can see, this is his most ambitious project. This might explain some of the things I'm about to point out. Now, I'm an attentive watcher, who doesn't get lost often. I pay attention to little details and I rarely question myself about what's going on on screen, as long as I'm given enough information. This is where Space Sweepers confuses me, because I feel like in theory, the film has all the necessary information for you to understand everything that is going on, but in reality it hasn't. There's a lack of establishing shots and a lot of the sets are basically indistinguishable from each other. This makes it hard to understand where the action is taking place and, therefore, why are the characters there. Besides this, the editing is very choppy, mainly making the action and fast paced scenes very confusing and hard to follow, but also affecting slower, more serious scenes and resulting in sometimes weirdly paced moments.
The second major flaw of the movie is it's villain, who I think is a rather weak character in terms of writing, coming of as a stereotypical big evil guy. I get what they were trying to do and, if done right, it would've been great (even if predictable). The actor playing the villain actually did a good job with the script and the directing he was given, but his characterization was weak. I think it would've been more effective if the viewers didn't know basically from the start he was the bad guy and his motivations were shown instead of told.
These two things prevent Space Sweepers from going from a good movie to a really good movie. Nevertheless, it is still a great watch, which might actually improve with repeated watching, since the viewer will have a better understanding of the world the story takes place in. On the plus side, it has a fun and diverse group of characters, strong female leads, an interesting story, with plenty of action, heartfelt and comedic moments, and a cute kid. Don't take the movie too seriously and I guarantee you will have a good time while watching it.

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I was not let down.

I was expecting the best for this movie and ended up getting the best, I am so proud of the actors and how much they ate this movie up. I absolutely love it and will rewatch it again soon, before my space drama era ends. One thing I will never stop talking about from this movie was Jang Hyun Sook (Kim Tae Ri), she is so badass and I just couldn't stop going crazy over her the entire time, Kim Tae Ri is by far one of my favourite actors and should be yours too. I think my favourite part of this movie was when Kim Tae ho (Song Joong Ki) was able to meet Suni (Oh Ji Yul), I cried buckets at that part. Suni deserved better, I really wished she wasn't outside at that time. However, I feel like it was understandable and it really helped Kim Taeho develop his character. Space Sweepers will always have a place in my heart from now on, I'm so happy with the ending and don't even get me started with Bubs, she is SO beautiful. That's all for my review, please watch Space Sweepers, ASAP.

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Theater-worthy but a bit bland

This is the type of a movie you NEED to see in the theater because of how incredible the CGI and visual/sound effects are. You really can't capture the full experience on TV. I'm not much of a sci-fi person but this gets a 10 for cinematography.

I came for Kim Taeri and Song Joongki, and....stayed for Kim Taeri and Song Joongki.

I think the movie is okay for a weekend watch, but the story was kind of bland. Not necessarily cliché, but just not enough going on to keep a strong impression from start to finish. There wasn't enough character development, and a lot of questions went unasked about our other characters' backstory besides Taeho.

BUT like I said, the effects were just gorgeous and the characters' interactions with Dorothy were adorable. It was pretty predictable but it did have its share of plot twists, especially at the end which actually surprised me. The action scenes were great and the team had great chemistry together. I also shed a few tears, the film does have some emotional scenes.

Overall: 8/10, maybe a 7 without the special effects. If you're here for the leads like me, go watch!! Their acting definitely does not disappoint. But if you're not a sci-fi person, you want a strong plot, and notsomuch here for the effects, save it for later when you're out of things to watch.

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Good Sci Fi flick with heart. Would have been great if it had ended a little earlier.

This Sci Fi flick has awesome production values - the CGI and action scenes are top notch. There's a very simple story. The space sweepers are the "poor" from earth that make their living scavenging waste left behind by the rich and powerful, who have all escaped into space since we didn't take care of earth and it's now dying slowly. The protagonist's daughter died in an accident and he's doing everything he can to get enough money so the official channels can find and retrieve her body before decaying orbit causes it to burn up on re-entry. Then, one salvage mission discover "Dorothy" a robot captured by terrorists that contains a bomb.

The reaction of crew of his vessel, The Victory, is mixed, but the acting is top notch. The captain is suitably bad-ass, the former gangster with tattoos and dread locks is EVEN more bad ass, and the funniest and baddest ass of them all would have to be ... the robot. Yes. The former military assassin robot who is SUCH a capitalist he/she cheats his/her crewmates at cards, so that he/she can get skin grafts. He/she is awesome! They should make a whole movie based on the adventures of this wise cracking robot. The little girl is cute and supporting characters do well, including the villain.

The story is quite predictable in parts, but the father-daughter and family bond are both effective and heart warming enough to tug on one's heart strings. Who isn't going to melt at a cute kid drawing pictures of you? *arrow slams into heart* aaak you got me, you got me good.

If this movie had ended with the crew sacrificing themselves with the bomb, it would have been a 9, maybe even 9.5. Heroic tragic endings, THAT is the Korean Way. But somehow, they introduced a Deus Ex Machina, which made me immediately feel cheated. It turned it into more of an "American" movie, to let the crew live, and each member then has a happy ending. Still okay, but no longer great. I don't know, maybe I'm jaded, but it seems to me the sad ending would have been a better place to end and the movie would have been more of a "Korean" movie.

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Different

So I watch movie as an off chance as I really enjoyed the ML in Vincenzo, and wanted more of him!

Firstly this movie didn't disappoint, it was different wholesome movie with both emotional and hilarious scenes together and it was a good blend of it. It's definitely different cause it first Korean production related to space. The kid was super cute with everyone. I love their characters and the casts did amazing job in acting it out.

The music was unnoticeable.

I loved the acting, some aspects of the story and most of all the CGI of this film - the quality was so damn good it felt like I was watching in the cinemas.

In short - this movie was a blast Like literally!!!! I-- have no words, and i don't know how to explain it, but-- this movie was just plain original and amazing!

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A Very High Five!

I really enjoyed the movie. The acting, special effects and scoring were on point. The story is ordinary but it could be more interesting if they flesh out a bit more on the backstory of each of the main characters, even the villain. I know it was mentioned in the plot but I felt it was lacking to make the audience feel the gravity of why they decided to abandon all to become space sweepers. I’d also like a little bit more story of how the Black Foxes were formed. I also would like to know more about Kot-nim’s family. These are just my wishes to see but they’re not a big deal.

Overall, the movie was amazing and I won’t mind a second watch. It was truly enjoyable. It was a rollercoaster of emotion, you name it, you’ll feel it here. Go ahead and watch, it is worth your while.

Hats off to the four main characters, you did really well! Congratulations to the staff and crew for a well-produced movie.

Let us all do our part. We only have one Earth and we should take care of it. We are only borrowing it from the next generation.

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Not bad for South Korea's first space blockbuster

Regarded as SK's first space-themed movie, I had few expectations. But I was surprised at how it was executed with stunning visual effects and combined with a fantastic ensemble of actors. The story is not that bad, but what I like the most is the sequence of actions, from going after space junks to running away from the bad guys. The little humor in some scenes is not bad either.

Space Sweepers is a breath of fresh air in the South Korean film industry. Rather than contemplating and reading the reviews, one should watch the movie right away; I can guarantee that it's a good one.

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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.

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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"?

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

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