Iron Sky is a film directed by Timo Vuorensola and released in the United Stated in April of this year. The original story is written by Johanna Sinisalo, the original concept is credited to Jarmo Puskala, with the screenplay written by Mechael Kalesniko and Tomi Vuorensola himself. It was filmed in Australia, Germany, and Finland and the production companies involved include New Holland Pictures, Yleisradio (YLE), 27 Films Production and Blind Spot Pictures Oy; with special effects by Tuotantoyhtiö Energia, Filmgate and E.G.G.S..
Taken from the film’s official site, the brilliantly bonkers premise of Iron Sky is that within the last moments of World War II, a secret Nazi space program evaded destruction by fleeing to the Dark Side of the Moon. During seventy years of utter secrecy, the Nazis construct a gigantic space fortress with a massive armada of flying ships. When American astronaut James Washington (Christopher Kirby) puts down his Lunar Lander a bit too close to the secret Nazi base, the Moon Führer (Udo Kier) decides the glorious moment of retaking the Earth has arrived sooner than expected. Washington claims the mission is just a publicity stunt for the President of the United States (Stephanie Paul), but what else could the man be but a scout for the imminent attack by Earth forces? The Fourth Reich must act! Two Nazi officers, ruthless Klaus Adler (Götz Otto) and idealistic Renate Richter (Julia Dietze), travel to Earth to prepare the invasion. In the end when the Moon Nazi’s ships darken the skies, ready to strike at the unprepared Earth, every man, woman and nation alike, must re-evaluate their priorities.
Personally, when I saw the teaser trailer, I was already impressed by the look of the film. However, silly me, I took the ridiculous premise to be just that, ridiculous. This lunatic premise of satirical science-fiction action comedy indeed proved itself immensely entertaining. I was pleasantly surprised.
It is a film about Nazis from the Moon invading Earth in flying saucers, so if you are expecting anything aside from absurdity, you’ll be watching the wrong movie. However, is ridiculous, or absurd for that matter, always bad? No, it’s not. This movie is bold, brave and over-the-top with its irreverence and gleefully silly political satire. Although it seems to have fallen shy of many people’s lofty expectations, it stands as a surprisingly elaborate science-fiction epic.
The production design and visual effects are so standout that it might be hard to tell apart from a Hollywood production, with space battle scenes that are definitely impressive. The story holds its own, the acting entertains, the humor is enjoyable, and at moments it is hysterical.
There is a strong first act and then the humor does seem to feel dated for a while, however, it picks up again and redeems itself as something very humorous and enjoyable. The only unfortunate thing is that the writers seemed to feel obligated to not only reference modern politics, but American politics in particular, and one politician specifically. This diminished the focus and humor of the attempted Nazi takeover slightly, but also left some of us wanting to remind the makers of the film that it was supposed to be a comedy about Nazis and not one big dig at a particular modern politician.
Otherwise, everyone I know to have seem the film, including myself, thoroughly enjoyed it. There was constant laughter in the theater but as always, there are very mixed reviews. I will leave you with this; the graphics are impressive, the acting is adequate, the story interesting, and the humor entertaining. If you’re interested in satirical science-fiction action comedy or just have a love of the brilliantly ridiculous and absurd, you just might love this film. Like I heard many say as the credits rolled, “that was awesome!”
7.5 out of 10 stars
Check out the trailer below:
“Being a geek is all about being honest about what you enjoy and not being afraid to demonstrate that affection. It means never having to play it cool about how much you like something. It’s basically a license to proudly emote on a somewhat childish level rather than behave like a supposed adult. Being a geek is extremely liberating.” –Simon Pegg. I’m Cheyenne Rayne! My interests are insanely diverse. I can have fun doing almost anything. I love to have fun and laugh. I love to learn about new things and create. I love to help the world around me. This results in a lot of volunteer work and of course a lot of geekiness. My geeky interests include video games, Magic the Gathering, anime, cosplay, computers, etc. Feel free to check out my Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/CheyenneRayneArt.
