This movie was engrossing as soon as the opening credits rolled in. Didn’t you wonder why we were greeted “Merry Christmas” in February? Was the production company really named Merry Christmas. Lol.

The lead characters were likeable. Special effects were decent. No sex scenes, can you believe that, Hollywood?!

This is my review-unlike-other-reviews.

1. Imagery

I’ve come to expect overarching symbols and imagery from Korean screenwriters and directors, and I wasn’t disappointed here.

Taeho’s shoes. In the beginning, Taeho traded his magnetic space boots for a chance to look in the morgue. Without shoes, he piloted his ship “Victory” in socks. In the end, Taeho bought himself 10 pairs of shoes. But lack of money wasn’t the only reason he couldn’t buy himself shoes. Shoes were also a reminder of his quest for his dead daughter, Suni. He wrote a ditty for her that went, “I think of you when I’m eating food. When I tie my shoes, I always think of you.”

Dorothy/Kang KotNim. I don’t speak Korean, but I thought “Kot” sounds like the Korean word for flower or blossom, and “nim” means “mister” or “madam.” Since she was going to be instrumental in making plants bloom again, naming her Miss Flower would be apt.

Same with her colorful outfit, and her fondness for drawing pictures in Cray-Pas oil pastel. Oil pastel is more vibrant in color than regular crayons. These character details foreshadowed her important role to the planet Earth. She was going to paint the planet again in brilliant colors.

Tiger Park/Giraffe. The tattoo on his neck was a giraffe. I think that’s his spirit animal; he’s actually as gentle as a giraffe with KotNim. He thought KotNim was drawing a giraffe but KotNim said it was a diplodocus, a long-necked, plant-eating dinosaur.

“Leben und Lieder” or “Life and Songs.” The robot Bub was seen reading the book of poetry by Rainer Maria Rilke in the end. It’s a blink-and-you-miss-it moment. Rilke is a famous 19th century Austrian poet. But *I think* the connection with Bub is the gender confusion. Before Rilke was born, his mother had a daughter who died shortly after birth. She fixated on having another daughter. When Rilke was a child, his mother dressed him up as a girl. He grew up confused about his sexuality, just like Bub — who was exploring its gender.

2. Environmentalism

The “Black Fox” was the environmentalist group accused of stealing the child android Dorothy. On the news, disinformation was spread that the android was engineered for terrorism since it could detonate on command.

Personally, I find it ironic that the environmentalist group would be at odds with the UST president James Sullivan. In my opinion, Sullivan was the ultimate environmentalist. He was the personification of environmentalism pushed to the extreme. He absolutely hated pollutants and was determined to eradicate them with his means and power.

Unfortunately however, he believed that men were the worst pollutants. They committed atrocious crimes against nature. That’s why he demanded that only the best would inhabit his pristine environment. He wanted none of the undesirables since they would create adverse effects on his newly created Eden. From his extremist perspective, the members of the “Black Fox” were misfits; they had “greed and hatred” engraved in their DNA; they hated that he selected a chosen few to enjoy the benefits of the new Mars colony and coveted the same for themselves.

Of course, Sullivan didn’t realize that it’s the case of the pot calling the kettle black. He was just as greedy and full of hatred as the people he accused.

Moreover, I think that the environmentalist message was clumsily shoehorned into the script. Take this dialogue for instance.

Sullivan: As you are all aware, at UTS, we have been carefully cultivating life on Mars using the Tree of Life, the Super Plant. Now in three days’ time, when Mars is at its closest point to the orbit, we will be announcing the grand opening of the new Mars colony. (He interrupts himself to talk about the dirt on his hands) This? This isn’t dirty. Human beings are dirty. Their crimes against nature are. Which I assure you there will be none of in our new Eden.
Reporter: There’s something else that won’t be in your new Eden. Ninety-five percent of the human population. They’re still living on Earth which has long turned into a living hell. What about the people left behind?

Meaning only 5% could flee the dying planet and call Mars colony their new home. The reporter raised a good point but then he segued into…

Reporter: Or the space laborers from Earth? There is a humanitarian crisis unfolding before our eyes.

Hello???? 95% of Earth’s human population are living in a hellhole and this reporter’s talking point is about the space laborers??? Tone-deaf much? 

Sullivan’s aide: (interrupting) The purpose of this meeting is –
Sullivan: No, no, it’s…he’s right. This is a crisis which as a company we will be addressing.
Reporter: Space is full of trash. Expired satellites, abandoned space vehicles, and leftover space construction materials have collided to form millions of scrap metal parts precariously floating in space. Workers risk their lives to chase down space debris flying ten times faster than a speeding bullet just to be able to afford their next meal.

See what I mean about shoehorning this environmental message? What’s the ratio of earth-dwellers to space laborers? If there were 3 billion people living in hell on Earth, and about 1 thousand space sweepers living in hell in space, shouldn’t this reporter advocate for the 3 billion when given a chance to speak up and implore Sullivan’s help?

But yeahhhh, I get it. The titular group had to be introduced into the show. 🙂 They were important people, too, these space-age garbage collectors.

Incidentally, the title in Korean is 승리호 which is translated as Spaceship Victory.

3. Captain Jang

I like her. She wasn’t a physical, kickass fighter, but she was badass leader, nonetheless. I liked it when she tricked the police to leave their ship or forced the Black Fox group to disclose their operation.

I like how she cheats in poker. (I think they were playing poker with go-stop cards). As a trained engineer, she modified her “Top Gun” aviator sunglasses. That’s how she could see through the cards of the robot Bubs when they played poker. I like her ingenuity.

Because of those glasses, she detected the tattoos on the Black Fox members, and she saw KotNim’s special power when she saw her stop the gunfire at the nightclub. She understood nanobiotechnology. Taeho rifled through Kotnim’s baggage and saw the same books but he didn’t make the connection. Captain Jang did.

Didn’t I tell you that nerds are the sexiest? 😂

I like that she made her own lightweight laser blaster, too. She might not know how fly the spacecraft, but she’s their artillery. Taeho was their pilot; Tiger Park was the engineer; she was their weapons specialist.

Bub was the whole crew.

I like that she was feisty but wasn’t reckless (side-eyeing the heroine in L.U.C.A.). Too often, when writers create a “strong” female protagonist, they equate strength with physical ability, not mental prowess. The end result is an annoying woman who could karate-chop her way out of street brawl but would be clueless at leading a team of men into battle. Captain Jang was a different mold.

4. Money

For me, money was a red herring.

The movie opened with the text, “In 2092, forests vanish and deserts spread. Fading sun and acidic soil cause plants to disappear. Fleeing the sick earth, UTS Corporation builds a new orbiting home for humanity. But only a chosen few can ascend.”

That last sentence seemed to indicate a class struggle between the poor masses and the rich elite.

It didn’t help at all that Song JoongKi was contrasted with Richard Armitage. The viewers had no clue who Song JoongKi’s character, Taeho, was when he entered a seedy “Lost and Found” area. He looked rather shady himself as he tried to pawn off a few cups of rice.

In comparison, the viewers were briefed on Richard Armitage’s character, James Sullivan, prior to meeting him. “Doctor, physicist, aerospace engineer, historian. He’s the wealthiest man in the world as well as the oldest at 152 years old.” When Sullivan appeared in the middle of green field, talking animatedly of his plants, he looked like down-to-earth man. I couldn’t help thinking: he tended his own garden despite being the richest man in the world? Wow!

But eventually, the motivations became clearer.

Money wasn’t the end-goal for the crew of the “Victory.” It was only a means to an end. Taeho needed money to retrieve his daughter’s body before it disappeared completely in space. The robot Bub needed money for the expensive skin grafts so it could blend in with humans. Capt Jang needed money to retrofit her ship in the event that she met up with Sullivan again.

Even for Sullivan, money wasn’t the determinant. He was the richest man in the world so what’s the point of acquiring more money or surrounding himself with the moneyed people?

He told the reporter as much.

Sullivan: Did you know that you can tell a person’s moral disposition by his or her DNA? The first thing we see is character. At UTS, we select only the most upstanding citizens to bring to space. Special Force Squad are the exception. That these people are wealthy is just a coincidence. I don’t care about money. When you are as old as I am, money is hardly of consequence.

What Sullivan wanted was a “cleansing.” Instead of ethnic cleansing that Hitler and the Nazis did from 1933 to 1945, he wanted a wholesale cleansing of immoral people.
By calculating the years, we realize the Sullivan was a product of his time. He was born in 1940.

2092 – 152 = 1940. And we know what started in 1940, right?

Sullivan: I lost my family. A war broke out the year I was born. My father died in battle, and my mother had to beg on streets to provide for me and my four siblings. Genocide swept through our village. Every day, I saw dead bodies falling. When I was six years old, my family was killed. Burned alive before my eyes. I saw my mother screaming as her chin melted away. And in that moment, I made a promise to myself. I vowed that I would make the world a better place.

From history, Sullivan acquired a warped sense of self-righteousness.

Sullivan: This is your true nature. Greed and hatred are engraved in your DNA. Did you really believe you deserved a place in Eden? Answer me!
Reporter: No…
Sullivan: You’re a vile pollutant. You crawl into my paradise and infect it with your filth. The world will never be a better place while it’s infested with scum like you. My job is to cleanse the infection. The future of humanity depends on it.

That’s why I say that the money was the red herring in this movie.

5. Last but not the least, words of wisdom

Kotnim: There’s no up or down in space. Nothing out here is better or worse than anything else. That’s because everything out here has its special place.
Taeho: Who told you that?
Kotnim: That’s what Dad always says.

I understand what the writer is getting at here. Although I would caution people to apply Kotnim’s perspective to matters pertaining to morality and ethics, this is the best alternative — offered by this writer — to Sullivan’s worldview. The undesirables like the Reporter and Taeho, (even Sullivan?) can find a place in the new Eden. There was no need to purge the new world of people who are deemed as moral degenerates because everyone has flaws, and is a work-in-progress.

Me? I would say that extremist views like Sullivan’s could be curbed with a little bit of compassion and humanity.

Okay. That’s it. My “review” of the movie.