Space Sweepers – Netflix Review (4/5)

SPACE SWEEPERS is a new Netflix sci-fi adventure movie for the whole family. Watching this reminded me of Pacific Rim, Snowpiercer, District 9, and even Star Wars. A gorgeous production with a very international cast and a strong plot. Read our full Space Sweepers movie review here!

SPACE SWEEPERS is a new Netflix sci-fi adventure from South Korea (org. title Seungriho). However, while this Netflix movie is a South Korean production, it does have a very international appeal and various languages are spoken throughout the movie. Just like in Altered Carbon, people use a translator device in the year 2092, so you just speak in your native tongue.

You might like: Our review of the Altered Carbon series on Netflix here >

While Altered Carbon is the first movie I mentioned in connection with Space Sweepers, it draws a lot more on other amazing sci-fi movies that have come before it. All in a very loving homaging way while maintaining its own style and story. More on that later – without spoilers, of course.

Continue reading our Space Sweepers movie review below and find it on Netflix now.

Perfect for fans of sci-fi adventure stories

Space Sweepers really is a movie for the whole family and it should feel familiar without being a copycat or a spoof. I was reminded of Pacific Rim in terms of people coming together and using machines to fight in outer space. Plus, there’s a little girl at the heart of this story as well. Snowpiercer also quickly came to mind as far as the social realism angle is concerned.

In 2092, Earth is almost entirely unlivable and not everyone is invited to live in the alternative. Instead, they’re working for scraps by doing odd jobs. One of them is being a “space sweeper”. This is basically cleaning up all the space junk to ensure it doesn’t damage any of the space stations where people live now.

Also, District 9 definitely came to mind in terms of grittiness and the ugly side of human nature. Finally, the battle scenes in space definitely reminded me of Star Wars. Again, not as a copy of the Star Wars style and look, but just as a loving homage to the iconic franchise.

However, I should say that unlike several of the above-mentioned movies, there are no monsters in Space Sweepers. Well, obviously some of the human beings act like monsters, but you’ll see no aliens or huge creatures from other planets. Only human beings and the robots created by humans. Mostly in the form of nanobots or droids.

The international cast of Space Sweepers

Song Joong-Ki stars in Space Sweepers as Tae-ho, but he has a lot of co-stars in this sci-fi adventure. Including both South Korean actors as well as actors from many other countries. I especially have to mention Kim Tae-ri who starred in the title role of Park Chan-wook’s The Handmaiden (2019). She is awesome as the drunken Captain Jang.

Also familiar to fans of the zombie period piece series Kingdom on Netflix is Jin Seon-kyu. He plays Tiger Park who is someone you’d definitely want on your spaceship! We also get the voice of Yoo Hae-jin as a droid that you should end up loving. All attitude and so much heart as well. In a small (but important) role, we also see American Daniel Joey Albright (Peninsula).

In a key role as the richest man ever (who also feels like a supervillain) is Richard Armitage from the Hobbit trilogy and the Netflix series The Stranger. Oh yes, Richard Armitage should leave quite an impression on viewers. Also, it’s easy to see a comparison with real-life people such as Amazon’s Jeff Bezos or Tesla’s Elon Musk.

Watch Space Sweepers on Netflix now!

Jo Sung-hee is the director of Space Sweepers and he also directed the 2012 fantasy thriller A Werewolf Boy which starred Song Joong-Ki as well. Definitely worth checking out, if you enjoy genre movies. This time, Jo Sung-hee is doing something very different – and it works!

I love adventure-themed movies and I love sci-fi, so Space Sweepers ticked two major boxes for me. It is a bit too long with a runtime of 2 hours and 16 minutes. However, I really don’t think much could (or should) have been left out. South Korean movies do tend to be very character-driven and this sci-fi movie is no exception.

Basically, this also means the story will take longer to tell since we need to know and understand the characters. I love this about South Korean movies – including the fact that even good people can do bad things (and vice versa). In other words, sure, it’s long but it never gets boring. Just a bit slower at times. However, there is plenty of action in between these slow moments.

Space Sweepers is a gorgeous production with interesting and engaging characters that carry a strong plot, so it’s a definite recommendation. Check it out and make sure you’re not half-watching it because the dialogue is fast and there’s a whole new kind of world you need to understand. Enjoy!

Space Sweepers is out on Netflix globally from February 5, 2021.

Details

Director: Sung-hee Jo
Writers: Sung-hee Jo, MoKan
Stars: Song Joong-Ki, Kim Tae-ri, Seon-kyu Jin, Hae-Jin Yoo, Richard Armitage