Those who listen to Mark Kermode will have heard of this film quite some time ago as he frequently makes reference to the one-liner summary of this film as it has done the rounds for a while. Finally it arrived but, as interested as I was, I was also put in mind of Snakes on a Plane, another film that benefited from an odd, internet-friendly quirk to it and managed to make the most of a so-so film by virtue of its oddity and its viral marketing. Iron Sky turns out to be similar in that it doesn't live up to what it could have been, but it does actually turn out to be reasonably entertaining despite its many weaknesses and limitations.
The thing that it is best at is the thing that has been in the makers' minds ever since they had the idea to make this film – the design. With 1940's technology combined with modern sci-fi conventions, the effects are full of wonderful steam-punk creations with large cogs, heaving computers and everything very of the era but yet in space. It is ridiculous but yet also very cool. It helps that the CGI is actually much better than I expected – all of the battles and ships looked really good and worked well. As it is in regards the core idea, the film is best when simply delivering on it – by showing us Moon Nazi's! Happily the film doesn't totally fall down everywhere else, but it is certainly not as clever as it wants to be nor as funny as it thinks it is. The script sees lots of digs at various countries and lots of pop culture reference points – from sci-fi series through to YouTube viral videos, there are lots of things in here. Problem is that in terms of the references, they are mostly just made rather than made cleverly. This does still work in terms of amusing but there is plenty of scope for them to have been stronger references with something smart behind them. Speaking of smart, it must also be said that the satire is rather blunt as well, even if most of it has good intentions. I liked the rise of the Palin-esque President on the back of Nazi style campaigning (it didn't seem too out of step with real-life hyperbole) and also some of the broader jokes at the expense of current events (the world leaders roaring at the idea that North Korea could be responsible for the army on the moon was probably my favourite) but mostly the gags were too obvious and neither as smart nor as funny as they should have been. Too often the film also becomes a little too silly for its own good. Some of the silliness works (ie, the central idea behind the movie) but too often it is just a bit daft.
The worst part of the daftness is the character played by Sergeant. She goes for it with vigour but her rather vampish OTT performance isn't backed up well enough by the material and the tone of most of her scenes don't really work. Dietze is better and has an easy charm on the screen while Otto and Kier make for good villains. Kirby doesn't have enough material to work with and ends up with a rather generic character and performance to match. Paul's impression of Palin is a decent one although to a certain degree it is a case of shooting fish in a barrel. Generally the cast is a limiting factor it has to be said – even those that are decent are only that.
Overall Iron Sky is a catchy idea that doesn't fully deliver in reality. Visually and conceptually it is surprisingly strong throughout and amongst the broad jokes and digs there are some to be enjoyed. It is just a shame that the material limits the success by being broad when it should have been pointed, and satirically delivering slow slaps when it should have been jabbing. It still is quite fun to watch, but it could have been a lot stronger with as much work put into the script as there appears to have been put into the conceptual designs.
The thing that it is best at is the thing that has been in the makers' minds ever since they had the idea to make this film – the design. With 1940's technology combined with modern sci-fi conventions, the effects are full of wonderful steam-punk creations with large cogs, heaving computers and everything very of the era but yet in space. It is ridiculous but yet also very cool. It helps that the CGI is actually much better than I expected – all of the battles and ships looked really good and worked well. As it is in regards the core idea, the film is best when simply delivering on it – by showing us Moon Nazi's! Happily the film doesn't totally fall down everywhere else, but it is certainly not as clever as it wants to be nor as funny as it thinks it is. The script sees lots of digs at various countries and lots of pop culture reference points – from sci-fi series through to YouTube viral videos, there are lots of things in here. Problem is that in terms of the references, they are mostly just made rather than made cleverly. This does still work in terms of amusing but there is plenty of scope for them to have been stronger references with something smart behind them. Speaking of smart, it must also be said that the satire is rather blunt as well, even if most of it has good intentions. I liked the rise of the Palin-esque President on the back of Nazi style campaigning (it didn't seem too out of step with real-life hyperbole) and also some of the broader jokes at the expense of current events (the world leaders roaring at the idea that North Korea could be responsible for the army on the moon was probably my favourite) but mostly the gags were too obvious and neither as smart nor as funny as they should have been. Too often the film also becomes a little too silly for its own good. Some of the silliness works (ie, the central idea behind the movie) but too often it is just a bit daft.
The worst part of the daftness is the character played by Sergeant. She goes for it with vigour but her rather vampish OTT performance isn't backed up well enough by the material and the tone of most of her scenes don't really work. Dietze is better and has an easy charm on the screen while Otto and Kier make for good villains. Kirby doesn't have enough material to work with and ends up with a rather generic character and performance to match. Paul's impression of Palin is a decent one although to a certain degree it is a case of shooting fish in a barrel. Generally the cast is a limiting factor it has to be said – even those that are decent are only that.
Overall Iron Sky is a catchy idea that doesn't fully deliver in reality. Visually and conceptually it is surprisingly strong throughout and amongst the broad jokes and digs there are some to be enjoyed. It is just a shame that the material limits the success by being broad when it should have been pointed, and satirically delivering slow slaps when it should have been jabbing. It still is quite fun to watch, but it could have been a lot stronger with as much work put into the script as there appears to have been put into the conceptual designs.