Iron Sky, 2012.
Directed by Timo Vuorensola.
Starring Julia Dietze, Christopher Kirby, Peta Sergeant, Stephanie Paul, Kym Jackson, Götz Otto and Udo Kier.
SYNOPSIS:
In 1945, the Nazis retreated to a secret base on the moon. In 2018, they come back…
There are times when a film’s premise makes it a must watch. This could be because the idea is so brilliant it just has to be seen, or simply so awful, bizarre or strange, that it becomes essential viewing. Iron Sky would fall somewhere in the middle of the two. The selling point is Nazis on the moon. It’s fantastic, and slightly f**ked up to boot.
The premise is simple. In 2018, the US president (who could be Sarah Palin’s younger sister) has ordered an exploration to the moon with a black astronaut (James Washington, played by Christopher Kirby) as it will look good for her in the polls (as well as obtain a useful power source called Helium 3). Once on the moon the U.S space team is ambushed by Nazis. As it happens they’ve been living on the dark side of the moon since 1945, building space crafts and weapons of mass destruction ever since, waiting for the day to return and bring about Aryan domination.
Iron Sky is imaginative, and funny. It’s a real left field film that comes out of the blue and surprises. It’s not brilliant by any stretch, but the barmy premise is handled with tongue comfortably homed within cheek. The cast have fun with their roles. They’re playing for laughs, without going over board and making it too farcical. The characters remain rooted in some kind of reality, with some kind of threat and arc for certainly a few of them. Kirby as Washington is very good, as is Gotz Otto as Adler, who wants to become the new Fuhrer. Julie Dietze leads the movie well and is a likeable heroine. Elsewhere the most recognisable face and name was that of Udo Kier, as camp as ever.
Perhaps the films most impressive feat is the sense of scale given its small budget. Whilst it’s not taking itself too seriously it really does feel like a blockbuster at times. The effects are very good. Some of the sequences are really impressive and the film also looks slick. It looks far grander than it’s meagre budget would normally deliver, and looks a damn sight more impressive than many haphazard movies that Hollywood churns out for $100m plus. The FX team and director Timo Vuorensola have certainly earned themselves a stab at a bigger movie. The film’s score is also impressively grandiose.
In all, Iron Sky takes an attention catching premise and does it justice. It’s simply entertainment, nothing more. It’s hardly game changing but as a poorer cousin to so many dull, uninspired and bloated blockbusters, this offers a lot of entertainment per pound. Most definitely worth a watch. Worth a repeat viewing? Perhaps.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Tom Jolliffe
Originally published May 30, 2012. Updated April 10, 2018.
