Little surprise to see the polarized votes for this gritty sci-fi thriller. This is no breezy glide through the outer world. You will either adore its unusual blend of sharp-shooting space cowboys and oriental mythology, or find it too hackneyed.
Here is a short take from someone who does not generally care much for science fiction: I think with its new faces and a well-executed theme it yokes together something proprietary to its fantastic world, something that has the electricity to make it all seem worthwhile.
The scene is 500 years from now. A bunch of renegades fly around in space, spewing witty banter more than anything more productive -- but really, the dialogue is sharp throughout. Abroad this ship is a psychic girl, who for her dazzling powers had been apparently captured and trained by the ’Alliance’ (those big bad unseen powers in charge of the universe, as usual) in a top secret program to manufacture human weapons, but has since been rescued by her brother and brought back to the ship.
As you can probably tell, the Alliance must now spread its whiz-bang tentacles and repossess her. Which in turn sets us up for a licketysplit chase-athon of a flick, with all its twists and turns and bone-crunching bursts of martial art.
Surprisingly, the actors are pretty confident in their parts, which is impressive considering that I had never seen any of them before. Particular praise for the captain of the ship, the psychic girl, and the lead operative of the Alliance who sports a British accent, but that’s eminently forgivable.
Strongly recommended if you are looking to snazz up a slow weekend and have had patience for Starwars type fare.