‘Space Sweepers’ Review

“Space Sweepers” is a newly added Korean film on Netflix that is considered the first space blockbuster for South Korea. 

Director Jo Sung-hee first came up with the idea when a friend of his was talking about the space debris that is outside our atmosphere. 

The film is set in the year 2092 when the earth has become inhabitable. The rich and powerful can live in the orbiting home built by the UTS corporation, while the poor are stuck on the polluting Earth. The only way to exit Earth is by working as a space sweeper by collecting and selling the debris they find.

However, the most interesting part throughout the film are the many different languages that you hear. Being a Korean film, you would expect to only hear the Korean language, but the directors and producers did not forget to also put those of different nationalities since the film is about people leaving the decaying Earth.

The main characters of the film are four Korean misfits aboard the Victory ship, who all have a hidden past: Tae-ho, who is in a lot of debt, Captain Jang, the leader of the ship, Tiger Park, works on the engines, and lastly Bubs, who is a robot. Throughout the film you constantly witness their fights and arguments that add comedy to the film. 

Each of them has their own goals but what they all have in common is the need for money. While trying to figure out how to pay their debts, luck struck them when they found a child hidden on the debris they found. Hearing the news, they find out that the child is a robot named Dorothy and a weapon of mass destruction that was created by the terrorist group called Black Fox… or is she?

Believing they have hit the jackpot everyone decides to contact Black Fox demanding a large sum of money in exchange for Dorothy. Members of the Victory ship soon realize that the journey was not going to be easy when Dorothy’s identity is blown causing panic and finding out UTS is also looking for her. Having to take care of Dorothy for a little longer, each of the crew members slowly grew fond of her. 

Although most parts of the film are not all that surprising, the special effects and actors are what tie the film together. So, if anyone is looking for a good family movie that has action, comedy, sci-fi and do not mind the subtitles then this is a great film to watch!