Review: Netflix's SPACE SWEEPERS Shows Some Smooth Sci-Fi Spectacles
With a myriad of sci-fi movies and TV shows coming out every year, it’s harder and harder to find original ideas. Space Sweepers takes the “earth is dead, let’s venture to space” idea and comes at it at a slightly different angle, enough to make it worth watching. With a fun cast, pretty strong CGI, and a somewhat original story, this movie turned out better than expected.
Space Sweepers follows a ship of some of earth’s best “space sweepers.” These people pick up garbage and leftover ships floating around in space so they don’t smash into everything else. These four crewmates, somewhat friends, then discover an unusual thing that is wanted by various people for various reasons. Chases, friendships and hidden discoveries ensue. It’s not a terribly original idea, but it does feel fresh enough because of the way it is presented and the characters involved. The identity of the good guys and bad guys are still mostly cliché, but more original than a lot of sci-fi contact than we’ve had in the last five years.
The visuals are surprisingly good for the number of visuals used. Basically, everything in the entire show is computer-generated and it all flows surprisingly well. There are some specific effects with people’s faces and bodies that look funny or obviously fake, but not to a point that it ruins the moment or takes you out of the experience. I was impressed with the design of the ships and environments in general, they seemed much more practical and realistic and yet still entertainingly Sci-Fi-ish. As this is primarily an action movie, sequences are fairly creative and very entertaining to watch. The spaceship chase scenes are exhilarating and visceral even though it’s all done with CGI that looks more akin to video games than real life. But it’s still impactful and throws viewers into the action with good camera angles and motion.
Outside of the main plot, there is actually a surprising amount of character development and depth that I wasn’t expecting. Watching the characters grow and change felt natural and well-executed. There were definitely some cheesy and unbelievable circumstances, but it’s better than I’ve seen in other action films lately.
Overall, Space Sweepers is an entertaining roller coaster of sci-fi eye candy. While the story and drama might not be top-notch, the characters and action make the film a fine Friday night movie.
