Spacejunk.
A dying planet.
An explosive robot.
Battle scenes.
Terrafirming Mars.

Okay, I'm in. I'm a sci-fi fan from way back and if it's got over a 5 rating on IMDB, I'll add a 1 to make it a watchable 6 and I'm plonked on the couch with Netflix locked and loaded. Bring me the popcorn.

I mean, I was dubious - a Korean space opera? Are we in for a melodramatic horror story in space?

But I was hooked from the first scene, where the hero Tae-ho (played by Werewolf Boy Song Joong-ki, and he's pretty cute as well, girls) begs to see a body landed on Earth and offering a pathetic bag of rice as payment, because in the tradition of Korean films, the difference between the rich and the poor is clear from the outset. The rich get to live on a space station that's like a orbiting new Earth, because the old one is barely kicking. Mars has been terrafirmed and if you can afford it, well, a new world awaits. If you can't, you're one of the poor buggers destined to chase space junk for a living and be subject to heavy and arbitary fines by the mega corp UTS. If you're on Earth, you're probably hiding underground, and if you're in space, you're probably hiding from something too, chasing space junk for a measly dollar or two.

This isn't Cuaron's 'Galaxy' - but dare I say it's more FUN?

Tae-ho is trying to find his daughter, and given he can't even put shoes on his feet, that's not happening any time soon. But then, in the middle of tearing apart a crashed shuttle, they discover a little girl, Kot-nim (Park Ye-rin) who might not be a little girl, but an exploding robot, or perhaps just a little girl - or is she? And she's valuable - if he and his ragged team can sell her to the highest bidder, they'll have tons of money and he'll be able to get his daughter back.

The maybe exploding maybe robot girl from Space Sweepers - she's a bit cute too.

Just because you're broke & on the run doesn't mean you can't have a moral core and save the Earth

Cue the Black Foxes, which propaganda broadcasting across the galaxy tells us are terrorists, and the head of UTS who's over a hundred years old and may or may not be trusted as the Earth people's saviour (hint: do you trust anyone in charge of a mega-corp?), both of who are after the Kot-nim, and things start getting a bit intense.

Very intense, in fact. It's an absolute roller coaster blast of a film that made us glad for a good stereo sound system and a decent big television. It's ravishing stuff, and proves that CGI can handle anything - and I believe a lot was invested in this film. It's gloriously colourful, whilst at the same time showing all those fun things about space cowboys in decaying space ships with tangles of wires and twists of bent metal and space junk everywhere ready to smash into the sides of ships that have seen better days. There's a lot of space junk out there for real, and this film extends this to the nth degree - what to do with all your waste but to let it hurtle through space and let other people deal with it?

I loved the female lead in the film too, and I loved the robot that's part of their team, Bugs, a programmed military robot found in a junk pile that longs to have the money to pay for skin so he looks like a real human. Bugs is sarcastic and as good at playing cards as he is at throwing a harpoon across space to fight against drone ships sent to kidnap Kot Nim from their grasp. And just wait to see who Bubs becomes at the end - unexpected, but delicious.

Bubs the card playing, sarcastic robot

Space Sweepers is a hilarious romp, very human, and very fun. There are some slightly corny and awkward moments, but this is made up for by other beautifully done moments, such as Kot Nim and Tae Ho selling tomatoes (never seen amongst the poor space sweepers) for a dollar a fruit, and fart jokes, or fantastically fun fight sequences and space ship shenanigans. Oh, and it's an absolute delight to hear languages from all over the world from Spain to Korea, France to the Philippines. Everyone has a babel fish like device that enables them to translate, which works beautifully from the very start.

It's a full on ride. Don't take it too seriously, and you might have just as much fun as we did. Sure, it might have a predictable plot, but it's how it executes it and gets us there (with a slightly twisty ending) that I love.

It's an 8/10 from me. Would I watch it again? Totally. Once the space dust has settled.

Space Sweepers is on Netflix

Have you seen this film? What did you think? What's your favourite sci fi you've seen recently?

With Love,

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