Space Sweepers is considered to be the first South Korean space opera, and with that in mind, director, Jo Sung-hee, and his co-writers, Yoon Seung-min and Yoo-kang Seo-ae, really knocked it out of the park. It takes place in 2092, Earth is near uninhabitable, and the UTS corporation, led by the seemingly altruistic Jeff Bezos, er, I mean James Sullivan (Richard Armitage) has built these orbiting stations with plans of making Mars our new home. The problem is that these big stations orbiting Earth are reserved for the elite, who are considered “citizens of UTS,” while everyone else are non-citizens, left fighting for scraps either on Earth or working out in space.
This is where we meet the scrappy crew of the Victory, a group of space sweepers who compete with other crews in collecting rubble that floats around the planet, hoping to find anything valuable. The team consists of our lead Tae-ho (Song Joong-ki), the cocky and hot-headed Captain Jang (Kim Tae-ri), the tattoo covered engineer with a heart of gold Tiger Park (Jin Seon-kyu), and the snarky robot Bubs (Yoo Hae-jin), who I’m guessing prefers to go by she/her pronouns.
One day, they discover a little girl whose face is plastered all over the news called Dorothy (Park Ye-rin). It is claimed that she is secretly a robot, and one that is used as an explosive. The crew’s first move is to sell Dorothy to the eco-terrorist group, Black Foxes, who have a vested interest in getting her back. Plus, it would help the crew cover their expenses and debt. However, as time moves on, they soon discover things about Dorothy and the nature behind the Black Foxes and the UTS corporation, leading our group of misfits on an action packed adventure to save everyone on Earth.
There’s a lot to love about the film, and if you are a fan of science fiction and space adventures, there are plenty of influences one will recognize, from Blade Runner to Star Wars. All those influences are clear, but the filmmakers bring them all together in a way that is very distinct, idiosyncratic, and very imaginative. The production design and visual effects are all fantastic, and it all goes towards building a world that is believable, despite some occasionally big flourishes.
What ultimately makes it all come together are the characters. They are fairly simple characters, but they have big personalities, and they have a lot of heart. You find yourself rooting for our crew early on, and the bits of backstory we get, especially with Tae-ho, who has lost his daughter some years before the events of the film, only make us endear to them so much more. It’s kind of collection of characters that beg for cosplay and fan art. Even the international actors, consisting of folks from all sorts of countries make an impression. And the performances are all fantastic. Song Joong-ki is the heart of the film, and he carries it well, bouncing off all the supporting players really well, and he hits the emotional beats in the final stretch of the film beautifully.
The film is also one that has more on its mind than one might initially expect, with an undercurrent that deals in the disparity between the rich and the poor, and I doubt it’s a coincidence that Sullivan’s utopia seems to consists almost entirely by white people. Our crew is barely going by, with an early scene showing them getting a little over five hundred dollars for their most recent haul, but ending up thousands more in debt due to damages and fines. Song Joong-ki doesn’t even have a decent pair of shoes for most of the film. Meanwhile, Sullivan turns out to have more treacherous motivations, which isn’t surprising, but it speaks to the way the way the rich see the poor as disposable, with instincts rooted in eugenics.
While Space Sweepers may indulge in these heavy and relevant ideas, it’s ultimately a romp; a good old fashioned adventure that sweeps you up in a whole new world with wonder and wit. It’s a blast to watch, and I had so much fun with the colorful characters and the intense and fast paced action sequences. This film has the kind of heart and imagination that you don’t see in a lot of American blockbusters, not anymore at least, and even in some of the more corny moments, it absolutely earns its cheers and weird indulgences. Though its two hour and sixteen minute runtime might seem like it stretches things way too thin, it goes by in a flash. If I saw this when I was young, it would be one I would revisit over and over again. I loved spending time with these characters, and I most definitely wouldn’t mind seeing them on more adventures in the future.
Space Sweepers is now out on Netflix.