Iron Sky: The Coming Race Review
While the original movie isn’t anything too spectacular, I recall it being fun and very unique in what it was presenting. This sequel, “The Coming Race” is a fairly generic travel to the center of the world situation. It features a nonsensical narrative, with weak characters and some rather poorly presented CGI. There was a lot of potential in what they were aiming to provide with this one and I was totally onboard until I began watching this.
It starts out alright, taking its time and establishing what has happened since the first entry. Things are rough, and one lady keeps things running by fixing everything. That being Obianaju 'Obi' Washington (Lara Rossi), and she wasn’t a bad lead in this. She is however surrounded by a poor plot and some cartoonish crew members. I get that there’s an element of satire here, but it was just stupid at times with the characters that were present. A lot of the film is spent showing off a crowded part of the moon base.
Things have rusted over, and it looks solid visually. Once you get down to what should be the core of package, it looks rather bad. This area should have been a world of wonder, yet it feels shallow and almost empty. The integration of the mysterious race wasn’t well done, and honestly a bit ridiculous in what is a zany series.
I felt the back story could have been more creative, just like with the general latter part of the movie. There was so much potential, and instead it’s like, a leader was evil because they’re part of this alien species. Not exactly a creative move.
When it comes to the latter half of the story, it felt rushed. It was as though pieces of the narrative were missing and they were hopping along towards the ending. It goes on further, but that set piece area could have been so much more than what it was.
I don’t believe the acting was a problem here, perhaps just the design of the roster of characters. They were too silly, and it would have been nice to see something more serious in general. You get a range of funky characters, with the weird second portion of the flight crew just being stupid. It was next level stupidity there, and they really didn’t need to be brought along. Even some generic cannon fodder would have been better, or smarter.
There was no sense of worry for that side group as it took two seconds to guess what would happen to their underdeveloped squad. I wasn’t a fan of the CGI elements, they were alright at times and just bad at other portions. I get the budgeting is likely an issue here, and they did the best they could really. It was like they had aspirations for an underworld that was grander in scope, but were limited and instead choked with the concept.
The Conclusion
Iron Sky: The Coming Race disappoints in many ways with a poor plot, bland characters and a silly direction that ends up going nowhere. There’s being ridiculous, and then going too far with it. This would have worked better with a more serious attitude to provide laughs and an effort. The entire premise is already really over the top, they didn’t need to stretch it further.
Disappointment is a big theme in this film for me, as I thought the original was creatively unique. This one actually sounded even cooler, and that just didn’t end up happening this time around. The characters were bland, the lead was alright though she didn’t have a lot to work with. I was just hoping for more from this, it might be an alright venture if you’re looking for a super wacky adventure.
Just don’t expect anything, or it to be nearly as good or interesting as the original was. The idea was there upon reflecting on this one, and it had a stable enough start-up. The journey just didn’t go where it could have. Things felt as though they skipped along. Definitely hard to sit and watch in my opinion. At least everything gets tied up to a degree, then shows something even more wilder.
Iron Sky: The Coming Race Review at Home with Streamed Viewing
Screening Provided by Katrina Wan PR
Rating Overall: 3.5
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