Iron Sky (2012)

This low budget ‘concept’ flick spent a silly amount of time in development, even going so far as to mention that the movie MIGHT get completed on an early version of the official website. Well, somehow the ‘Nazis From the Dark Side of the Moon’ movie hit the correct sequence of buttons and managed to pull itself from the pit of ‘development hell’. And strangely enough, it pulled itself together rather decently. The over-the-top ‘story’ follows the hijinks and ridiculousness of the fatally ignorant ‘4th Reich’, opting to return to Earth from the moon after having fled there in 1945, to continue the forward march of the Nazi cause. When a secret military moon expedition from Earth accidently stumbles onto their existence, the war plans are put into action. Back home, President Palin (!) figures that the emergence of the Kraut space fiends is the perfect tool for her chances at reelection. What ensues is an amazingly ballsy political critique interspersed with a hefty dose of shockingly decent special effects. Outer space battles involving a fleet of Earth ships (including the ISS!) and the behemoth Nazi space zeppelins, and their complements of saucer craft, are actually VERY well executed, especially with the apparently miniscule budget (7 million Euro). Every Euro is plain for the audience to see onscreen and helps solidify an air of legitimacy and genuine effort. Some of the tone of Iron Sky nears Naked Gun-like buffoonery, but reins it back in to deliver some scathing, politcal/social criticisms…especially where the ‘American Right’ is concerned. Seriously, how could anyone make Sarah fuckin Palin, one of the most cartoonish and scary individuals in the arena of American politics today, one of the leads as The President, and NOT have something sarcastic to say about it(?). I was completely prepared for this odd helping of cinematic goodness to be just another idiotic Direct-to-DVD title in the mold of lazy crap like Two-Headed Shark Attack (2012) and its ilk, but those low expectations served me well. MOST of this amusing flick is worth a look. Sure, some of the jokes tumble into the dust, but a lot of the humor is refreshingly intelligent and well executed. Iron Sky knows exactly what it is and the effort that was put into making it THAT…is clear to see for anyone that’s willing to park themselves in front of it. I can easily recommend Iron Sky to any viewers who A) want something different and fun B) want a flick with an iota of brains under it’s C-budget veneer and C) want to see a fleet of space Nazis have their goose-stepping asses handed to them (and who doesn’t?!) in an epic orbital battle. Iron Sky is just plain, Nazi-fightin fun that spares virtually no one with its very aware ‘critique’.