Yahoo Movies Iron Sky review
It's not the worst film ever, but 'Iron Sky' would have benefited from more nods to its own idiocy instead of self-important 'messages'
The hype…
A crowd-funded film about moon Nazis that began life as a YouTube trailer can surely only go one of two ways: brilliantly bad, or just plain bad.
The story…
If you thought the Nazis were destroyed in the Second World War, think again. The proud Aryan disciples of Hitler actually fled to the moon, where they've been steadily building their society and plotting a way to conquer the Earth and create their fourth Reich.
At the head of the push for conquest is Führer Wolfgang Kortzfleisch (Udo Kier), though he is being watched carefully by the eagle eyes of his young, ambitious underling Klaus Adler (Götz Otto).
[Related video: Watch the 'Iron Sky' premiere report]
But the plans of both men are thrown into disarray when a publicity stunt by the first female President of the USA (Stephanie Paul) goes wrong, and strands black astronaut James Washington (Christopher Kirby) on the dark side of the moon with the colony of racist fascists.
But through his presence, the Nazis may find a way to begin their invasion. And if Earth sympathiser Renate Richter (Julia Dietze) is canny enough, Washington may just make it home to warn his countrymen.
The breakdown…
The funds delivered by thousands of well wishers and hours of tireless campaigning actually deliver some decent special effects. The steam punk aesthetic is in full throttle, and everything has a well-cultivated lo-fi charm.
The trouble is that the novelty of a two-minute trailer is hard to translate into a full length feature film. The Finnish filmmakers make a darned good attempt at filling it with unique action comedy, but in the end it's too disjointed and stretched to deliver the consistent laughs and thrills such an absurd premise could have.
There are also far too many cringeworthy attempts to be contemporary. Case in point is the already somewhat stale Sarah Palin parody occupying the White House hot seat.
Not only are attempts to send up her aggressive and image-conscious political tactics dated, but they fuel somewhat ill-placed political critiques that draw occasionally funny, but more often tonally jarring, comparisons between the US government and the Nazis.
They should really have stuck to the safe ground of making fun of the most extreme regime the world has ever known; but the story of James Washington and his, how can we put this, cruel and unusual treatment at their hands leads to a few chuckles when its sheer preposterousness should have provided some major belly laughs.
Still, a late surge with some fish-out-of-water comedy and an insane space battle finale mean all is not completely lost during the predictable second-act-sag, and 'Iron Sky' ends as a curious, if not classic, pop culture phenomenon.
The verdict…
The odd flashes of comedy gold are just about strung together by a strong visual aesthetic and some zany plot ideas, but ill-judged attempts at political satire and some ropey plot twists mean 'Iron Sky' may just fall short of the cult status it so desperately craves.
Rating: 2.5/5
'Iron Sky' is due to be released in the UK on 23 May 2012. Certificate: 15.
Watch the trailer for 'Iron Sky'
