It is 2092, Humans have vacated earth and now live on an orbiting home called UTS, located in upper earth orbit. Tae-ho, Captain Jang, Tiger Park, and a robot named Bubs are the crew of the ship Victory, a junk collecting ship that trades space junk for cash. While on a routine mission, the crew discovers a cargo ship containing a dangerous humanoid child named Dorothy. UTS' top security is looking for Dorothy which puts the crew right in the middle of the action to save earth from complete destruction.
Tae-ho being the main hero, we get to see a glimpse into his backstory, but I do wish we got to know the rest of the teams' past a bit more, as the film gives us just enough to be invested in them. Captain Jang is a badass leader who does not take any shit from anyone. Tiger Park had some amazing moments, especially with Dorothy, who by the way, is my favorite character. Played by Ye-Rin Park, she adds such an entertaining dynamic to the crew. The film is filled with highs and lows as the crew find themselves in many insane space fights and also share a lot of wholesome family moments thanks to the presence of Dorothy.
Bubs is one of the coolest robots you will ever see, and he is packing a punch worthy of any anime character. It reminds me of Saitama from One Punch Man; a funny hero that is packing a massive amount of power.
Filmmakers need to stop casting British actors as villains because as soon as I heard Richard Armitage speak, I knew he was playing that role and it ruined a very compelling speech as the film introduced him. I also felt his character was much more interesting without wanting to destroy the Earth. I also found the backstory connection with the crew a bit unnecessary, since it felt a bit forced to have to history with the villain.
I found myself immediately surprised by the space action as soon as the movie started, I was not expecting such impressive visuals from a film with a $20 million budget. The space traveling and fighting is so much fun, although I did have a bit of trouble following along at some moments. Many of the best sci-fi films make spaceships incredibly unique to distinguish between them, but because the majority of the secondary cast pilot similar ships, a few fights became hard to follow along with.
The sets and production design were fantastic and I found myself fascinated with looking at the details within the sets, especially inside the ships. One other very cool detail the film addressed is how language would be spoken in the future. With no official language, everyone speaks their native language but they are translated through earpieces. We the viewer get a unique experience hearing multiple languages at once.
My favorite parts of the film were all of the fun family humor on board the ship. With the addition of a major villain, the film makes a major shift in tone, and by the end, it seems to be a bit confused about what it wants to achieve. Though it is a really fun and entertaining film, its desire to explore every aspect of this future, takes away from its most interesting qualities like Space Sweeping.
Overall, Space Sweepers has a few issues but it's still a very entertaining space movie with a great cast and epic space fights. If you are a fan of anime like Cowboy Bebop or Planetes, you will have a lot of fun.
Plot: 6/10
Theme: 4/10
Acting: 6/10
Script: 6/10
Directing: 7/10
Score/Music: 6/10
Cinematography: 7/10
Editing & Effects: 6/10
Uniqueness: 8/10
Rewatchability: 8/10
Overall: 3/5 stars