It all starts rather predictably: blackstronaut James Washington (Christopher Kirby - way cooler than Will Smith) is the first man on the 'dark' side of the moon, where he's zapped by a Nazi unit and delivered to a giant swastika-shaped moon base, which was set up in the closing days of WW2 to await the fourth reich, and things drag a bit with loads of CGI tech. But soon enough, it kicks into its unique gear, and then it goes off in satiric riffs on America's yen for sturm und drang. Ausgezeichnete! Perfect for the Independence Day doldrums, for nothing is more patriotic than laughing at our national shadiness as seen through the eyes of the world, even if those eyes are German.
It won't be a surprise to some of us to learn the Nazis built a base on the moon during the second world war, but it might be a surprise to learn that though they've invented some spectacular steampunk devices they lack anything up to date with our cell phones --ironic since there are some paranoid philosophers out there who say cell phone technology came from aliens from the dark side of the moon! It's ironic too that the cellular battery of Washington's cell phone helps power the moon Nazi's long-dormant, gigantic Gotterdamerung device, built by the Aryan Einsten-ish monster und father of cute Aryan English teacher, Renate (Julia Dietze).
Though she loses some of her clothes when almost falling through an air lock the whole of IRON SKY is rather chaste, as behooves 'fuzzy' straight-faced sci fi of this sort. It sees far beyond mere T&A, leaning more towards genuine sociopolitical subversion and media satire. She's never objectified and though a Nazi it's only because she's been led to believe that Nazis represent a N.W.O. of peace, love, and tolerance. During a mission to earth to get more cell phones she's recruited by Vivian (Peta Sergeant) a savvy media planner and presidential campaign manager who lusts after Renate's nominal boyfriend (and the film's charismatic villain), Klaus Adler (Götz Otto) and ends up writing speeches for the current president, a Sarah Palin-type publicity hound, who sent Washington up to the moon in the first place, to promote a "Black to the Moon" catchphrase.
Perhaps only an international conglomerate of filmmakers like this (Australian, German, Finnish) could truly satirize America as deftly as IRON SKY, and since it's language appropriate (the Germans speak German most of the time, mit subtitlen), it has an even-keeled feeling, though the Nazis were the bad guys then, we're very clearly the bad guys now, laying claim to silos of Helium 3, nuking women and children, and generally underwriting global unrest at every step.
There's three ways this could go wrong: either through crappy or unimaginative scripting and fx (Read: SyFy channel original movies), shitty acting and writing (read most direct-to-video efforts), or through a thick veil of fake breasts and simulated sex (direct to pay cable). NEIN FUR ALLES! Instead the writing is clever und witty and lo! UDO KIER ist der jetztlichenfuhrer!
So if at first this seems way too-dependent on CGI to create elaborate but cold, almost-SKY CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW-style steampunk moonbase panoramae and Metal Hurlant style weaponry, stick it out. It will take you some really bizarre places and in doing so eclipse nominal fuzzy sci fi cult-intended efforts like BUCKAROO BANZAI. This was clearly a major labor of love for all involved, and it shows! Six years in the making! Maybe it's because IRON SKY is directed by a Finnish industrial singer Tomo Vuorensola, it reminds me in a way of the Norwegian-directed prequel to THE THING (my praise here).
PS - If you have any doubt of this film's cine-acumen, Washington (whose skin has since been albinoed up by the cray dr. so he can be Aryan, and he winds up looking like Thor) and Renate go see a revival of THE GREAT DICTATOR while in NYC, and emerge to glibly mention the film could easily have been edited down and no comedy should last 125 minutes. For Finnish filmen studentento disrespect Chaplin is to earn them my eternal acclaim.
Okay okay, forget I said anything, pretend all you heard of this film is that it's a typical blue-screen snore and let yourself be pleasantly surprised, and then amazed. Maybe we've never been great satirists of ourselves (don't forget DR. STRANGELOVE was British, as was Chaplin) but we can appreciate little cult-in-the-making gems like IRON SKY and admire how, now that the Nazis are gone more or less, America is (black prez or no) still racism capital number EINS!
UND PPS - Herzlichen Gluckwunsch zum Geburtstag, meinen Vereinigte Staaten von Amerika!