IRON SKY (2012)

Genre: Action/Sci-Fi
Director: Timo Vuorensola
Cast: Julia Dietze, Götz Otto, Chris Kirby, Udo Kier, Kym Jackson, Stephanie Paul, Monika Gossmann
RunTime: 1 hr 33 mins
Rating: NC-16 (Coarse Language And Violence)
Released By:  Lighthouse Pictures & Cathay-Keris Films
Official Website: http://www.ironsky.net/
 
Opening Day: 23 August 2012

Synopsis: In the last moments of World War II, a secret Nazi space program evaded destruction by fleeing to the Dark Side of the Moon. During 70 years of utter secrecy, the Nazis construct a gigantic space fortress with a massive armada of flying saucers. 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 UFO armada darkens the skies, ready to strike at the unprepared Earth, every man, woman and nation alike, must re-evaluate their priorities.

Movie Review:

Joining Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter and Inglorious Basterds as history-revisionist entertainment is Iron Sky, a movie that imagines the escape of Nazis in 1945 to the dark side of the moon, where they secretly orchestrate a large-scale assault on earth in 2018. The film’s premise had all the promise in the world to grow into a cult favourite; too bad director Timo Vuorensola squanders that potential by using the historical re-imagination as a backdrop to pile on gags. You will laugh, yes, but at what exactly?

After the sweeping, beautifully shot opening scene where you’re told the Nazis’ nefarious plan, you’re introduced to a president (Stephanie Paul) who clearly resembles Sarah Palin both in appearance and in her bid to be elected (re-elected, in the case of the character). Though this reference is clear for anyone who actually keeps in touch with American politics, its significance is unclear. As with the movie’s many other knowing references – the funniest include a North Korean official seems totally clueless about the real world and overly-reverential to his leader - the satirical element has zero weight to it, besides obvious self-congratulation.

So Madam President decides that launching missions to the moon again will secure her forthcoming re-election, because it is rich in a resource called Helium 3. Unknown to them, the Nazis have been harvesting Helium 3 for the past few decades in their bid to make their grand counter-assault on earth, resulting in their astronauts dying, save for a black astronaut who was captured earlier on (and in case you’re wondering, yes, there are gags related to his race), who eventually escapes from the Nazis’ labyrinth of a base.

I’m not gonna lie here. If you found Snakes on a Plane funny, you’re gonna laugh at Iron Sky too, as did I. You’re going to find the jokes by turns gloriously politically incorrect and downright revolting.  Yet it is obvious that this film doesn’t mine its rich premise for anything more than lowbrow humour, which makes you wonder why the filmmakers chose it anyway. The premise is not preposterous in itself; it is how Vuorensola’s hackneyed treatment of it renders it so infuriating. At the end of the film, it’s hard not to feel like Vuorensola has trivialized the sacrifices made by the armed forces back in the day, creating what amounts to little more than a thinly veiled exploitation movie.

Movie Rating:  

(It's nothing much more than cheap humour, but while it is at it, it pulls out all the stops to make you laugh. It's enjoyable if you don't expect too much from it)

Review by Raymond Tan