Review: Iron Sky

In 2018 the US, run by a Palin-esque President (Stephanie Paul) launch a moon expedition, but the shuttle ends up landing on the dark side of the moon. The two astronauts emerge from their shuttle to a startling discovery; a colony of Nazis has been in place on the dark side of the moon since 1945, and are (slowly) planning to come back to Earth and take over! One of the astronauts is killed, while another named Washington (American-born Aussie resident Christopher Kirby) is captured, interrogated, and has his black skin bleached white by orders of the ‘Moon Fuhrer’ (veteran cult actor Udo Kier)! Meanwhile, back on Earth, Presidential campaign manager Peta Sergeant seems to be incorporating awfully fascistic speech material. Julia Dietze plays the schoolteacher daughter of Nazi scientist Prof. Richter (Tilo Prückner), who is engaged to Fuhrer-in-waiting Klaus Adler (former Bond henchman Götz Otto, perfectly cast), but seems to have a soft spot for the African-American Washington, the only non-white she has thus far met.

 

Directed and co-written by Timo Vuorensola (this is just his second feature film), this 2012 Finnish/German/Australian co-production isn’t, strictly speaking a great movie. The Sarah Palin satire is awful and several of the performances are shocking, especially Australian Peta Sergeant. However, I ended up having such fun overall that I was able to overlook its failed elements. This is one whacked-out and visually arresting film, destined to become a cult favourite.

 

The film is at its best in the early scenes set on the Moon, though the opening ten minutes will likely alienate about 90% of the population. Me, I thought it was a hoot. It’s like a cross between “Watchmen”, “Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow”, TV’s “Red Dwarf”, and the hilarious German spoof “Dreamship Surprise- Period 1”. The opening scene is brilliant and hilarious, and the “Sky Captain”-esque visual design is truly stunning. The Nazi iconography and architecture is certainly ominous. The computer-generated backgrounds give the film a look that seems far more expensive than it probably was (Apparently the budget was around $7.5 million). I also absolutely loved the running gag about Chaplin’s “The Great Dictator”, where the Nazi folk on the moon are under the impression that it’s a pro-Nazi (and particularly pro-Hitler) short film. I also loved one line announced over a PA system; ‘The fugitive is a male negro. Unarmed, but possibly angry’. I think the scene that really won me over, however, is the one where two people are about to be sucked out into space and when the girl is pulled back inside, not only have they not exploded, but she’s in her underwear. Genius. Meanwhile, does that little German scientist with the wild hair remind you of anyone? You certainly don’t need to be Einstein to see the resemblance. And yes, the idea of turning a black guy white (essentially giving him a ‘whiteface’ treatment) is racist, but it’s supposed to be- they’re Nazis! So if you’re offended, that’s your problem for not understanding the intent. It’s fifty flavours of insane, and I dug it.

 

I particularly loved the thunderous, Wagnerian music score by Laibach (apparently a Slovenian industrial music group), which also has a “Godzilla” feel about it at times. We actually get a bit of Wagner at one point, and yes, it’s the tune you’re expecting. No one else will probably like this film as much as I did, but honestly, it’s your loss. Certainly Americans of the Republican or Conservative persuasion had better steer clear, it’ll be regarded in those quarters as a kind of “Satanic Verses”. The Palin segments don’t really work, I’ll admit. The Palin imitator (Stephanie Paul) is just terrible, and the idea of the character is awfully short-sighted given Palin was a flash-in-the-pan and it will forever date the film. When Paul and Sergeant become the focus of the film, it definitely loses something. But other than that, I was entertained by this, somewhat unexpectedly. Co-written by Michael Kalesniko (with story credits to Johanna Sinisalo and Jarmo Puskala) I don’t know if it’s a good movie or not, I just know I enjoyed the hell out of it.  

 

Rating: B-