Thursday, July 12, 2018

Space Cop

Space Cop; science-fiction comedy, USA, 2016; D: Jay Bauman, Mike Stoklasa, S: Rich Evans, Mike Stoklasa, Jay Bauman, Jocelyn Ridgely, Chike Johnson, Zack McLain, Patton Oswalt

Space Cop is a reckless police officer in Milwaukee of 2058. While chasing after an alien spaceship in his space car, he accidentally gets sucked into a time portal and lands in Milwaukee of 2015, where he finds a job, again at the police. While chasing after two burglars who took the frozen brain of scientist Marcus from a cryo lab, Space Cop unleashes Ted, a police detective from the 50s who was also frozen. Now in present, Ted, a cop from the past, and Space Cop, a cop from the future, have to solve the case of the aliens who want to revive Dr. Marcus, who was preparing a giant black hole experiment, and give his brain in a vat a mechanical body to find a new energy source for their planet. However, the brain in a vat kills them and intends to destroy Earth, but Space Cop and Ted stop him in the alien spaceship.

Produced by the RedLetterMedia trio, independent science-fiction comedy flick "Space Cop" is a spoof of the 'buddy-cop' movies from the 80s and 90s that often followed the formula of two unlikely heroes having to work together, and as such it is a rather fun and energetic little film, though it is not in good relations with a few crude or juvenile attempts at humor that wreck its mood, especially not in the rather trashy finale. Some jokes work, some don't. The best one revolve around the character interaction between Space Cop, a cop from the future, and Ted, a detective from the past, since they are played by fellow RedLetterMedia friends Chris Evans and Mike Stoklasa, who obviously like to cooperate with each other. Unfortunately, Ted and Space Cop do not interact that much, and instead mostly talk to other characters, acting as if they are each in "their own film". Evans is especially surprising imitating a deep Eastwood-like 'macho' voice throughout, which is often contrasted by his clumsiness. In one sequence, as two burglars are in a lab, Space Cop slams the door and triumphantly enters with this cheesy line: "The party's over, kids. The clown has arrived!" Another scene has him just staring at the video screen while his police chief (Patton Oswalt in a delicious guest appearance) cannot "hang up" the connection, even though he swiped at the screen, so he simply stands up and walks away from the desk, since he cannot stand Space Cop. Another great little joke has Space Cop asking Ted if he checked out if his wife is maybe still alive, since they lived in the 50s, upon which Ted replies: "Oh God, no! If my wife is still alive, she is probably an elderly person by now!" Some scenes are misguided and stupid, though (the baby hostage sequence, for instance, is disastrous), whereas 'slob comedies' were always of an overall lesser impression than comedies with intelligent protagonists. Since the whole storyline is assembled just out of random, episodic sketches, some will probably not enjoy in its goofy-cartoonish tone, yet overall it is an amusing little film that has its moments and surprises.

Grade:++

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