It’s not often that an Armitage project comes along that my husband is also interested in. A space romp, though, is something he can appreciate.

Space Sweepers is about a four-member crew of scavengers, essentially, who gather space junk to sell. They are outsiders, no longer part of the establishment and always trying to find the next dollar in an impossible situation where the fines and fees are more than the earnings. My husband and I really enjoyed the humour in the character of Bubs, the android crew member who greatly desires a human exterior. And there is a little girl who is central to the story who is really a very cute character. The others are somewhat clichéd, as they find redemption and save the world — but then that’s what you’d expect from this type of movie.

Watching it with subtitles was draining, especially with so much action to pay attention to, so we watched it over two nights. (There is a dubbed version available too on Netflix, but the dialogue doesn’t really match the mouths moving, which is super distracting!) My husband thought it was cool that the characters speak quite a number of languages, including Korean, English, French, and German, making the space environment very multicultural (although not multi-species).

Richard Armitage is not in heart-throb mode here, looking every bit the villain, despite a certain geekiness. But once again, I was really impressed by his acting ability, convincing me that he was a megalomaniac out to rule his world at all costs. A far cry from what we know of his personality…. it must be good acting!

Funny that he is looking so skinny in real life appearances, and yet he seems very imposing in this movie… especially when he makes a godlike stories-high appearance to the attentive citizens!

I found the movie somewhat hard to follow. Not sure if that was just my inability to track all the action while reading subtitles, but it was very hard to distinguish between the various ships and really understand what was supposed to be happening in space. I think my brain just doesn’t work that way, and I was really glad to have my husband around to help me interpret it. Mind you, unlike me, he doesn’t seem to be as bothered when he can’t follow the plot. He can just get lost in the action and excitement.

Overall, it was a good bit of entertainment and a fun way to spend a couple of evenings. Nothing profound or particularly original, but enjoyable all the same.