Space Sweepers is an action-adventure, fantasy and science-fiction Korean production of 2021. It is directed by Jo Sung-hee. We see Song Joong-ki, Kim Tae-ri, Jin Sun-kyu, and Yoo Hae-jin in the lead roles. First aired on Netflix on February 5, 2021, Space Sweepers is South Korea’s first space-themed high-budget movie.
The story is set in 2092. The world has become uninhabitable. Not only the earth but also the outer space around the earth is covered with space garbage of unused satellites or deserted space ships. In order to prevent human extinction, UTS company has established a space base where people can live in a new orbit. Only selected people can live on this base, and the owner of the UTS is a ruthless personality.
The main characters of the movie are collecting space garbage with their ship called “The Victory”, which carries South Korean flag. The team that is successful in collecting garbage makes a living in this way and leads a poor life in debt. Each one has a different sad story. The fourth person of The Victory team is a robot. A robot that will make you laugh a lot in the movie! The story begins to accelerate when the leading characters one day encounter Dorothy, a child robot known as a weapon of mass destruction. Space garbage collectors discover that Dorothy has special powers. Is Dorothy really a weapon of mass destruction or does she the salvation for the world?
Song Joong-ki appears with the character “Tae-ho”. Tae-ho was the former Remote Defense force commander and one of the first UTS citizens, but was fired from the UTS for “conscientiousness”.
Kim Tae-ri, “Captain Jang”, is a former Special Forces Union officer. However, realizing the true purpose of UTS, it creates its own pirate organization.
Jin Seon-kyu plays the role of “Tiger Park”. Tiger Park is a former drug lord who escaped Earth after being arrested and sentenced to death.
Yoo Hae-jin stars as the hero of the story, Robot Bubs that will make you smile.
Park Ye-rin plays “Dorothy”. Dorothy is a little girl who was originally believed to be a robot, however, we later learn that she şs a human little girl whose her father injected nanobots into her body as a last resort to regain her health.
The artificial world in Space Sweepers, made by people orbiting the earth and inhabited only by the chosen ones, is very similar to the artificial world in the 2013 film “Elysium: The New Paradise” starring Matt Damon. In the 2014 film Interstellar, time traveled for the salvation of humanity, and ways to leave the uninhabitable world and find a new world were sought. Again, there are similarities with the world description in the 3rd season of the WESTWORLD series. The military team attacking our heroes is also very similar to the soldiers in the Xbox’s HALO series.
The artificial worlds are designed the same in all three movies in the genre of space and the future. Although Space Sweepers has just been released, the IMDB score is not bad: 6.7/10. The space movie was given a Korean flavor, the concept of kind-hearted fathers and daughters and the little girl concepts with blue eyes and superphysical powers added privilege to the film and of course the robot Bubs became a legend! :)
In a nutshell, Space Sweepers is an entertaining high-budget B-class movie that’s full of clichés but somehow manages to make you watch itself. It can be said that the unique warmth of the Korean actors and actresses definitely contributed to this.
The trailer of the movie Space Sweepers:
