While rating this film I had to consider a few facts: It is a low-budget, do-it-yourself, fan-film. I could pick one of those perspectives and easily give it 10 stars but instead I will try to comment this film in light of any other movie since it really moves beyond those categories.
I saw the trailer but the final movie was not what you might expect from that. Although it's a comedy, the movie takes itself seriously and doesn't take easy shortcuts in doing so with style. It takes time to introduce a bunch of interesting characters. After that the comedy was at it's best when it was driven by these eccentric characters. There were no normal people in this universe.
There are great build-up's, the pacing works out pretty good and the space scenes don't overshadow the storytelling. When the CGI is on focus it's top quality visuals combined with an epic soundtrack. I do like a good space battle and the whole experience made my eyes glare with excitement. The main storyline would've worked without a few anecdote scenes but these scenes were so refreshing that it would have been a shame to receive a studio note to delete them. I welcomed every departure from the stale Hollywood formula with a smile.
Acting was OK at best with a few mild exceptions in the smallest roles. Nothing that distracted from the storytelling. Jari Ahola was brilliant as the Security Chief Karigrandi and the performance of Fukov was great fun.
I did wonder about what was the point of all. The lead character has a rather questionable morality and it felt a bit awkward at times. When the battles started I didn't know who to root for. Everyone suffers for their stupidity and the audience gets their laugh. Maybe the point is that "the universe is fair and we might get what we deserve".
All in all I laughed out loud many times in a movie theater and that doesn't happen often. I cheered and clapped and felt happy to see a movie like this. It is quite exceptional on any scale.
This was not the best Finnish movie ever but it was truly the most entertaining.
