“I.S.S” is the new movie from the director of “Black Fish” and is a serviceable thriller set on the International Space Station.
The movie follows three American astronauts and three Russian cosmonauts who must fight each other for control over the International Space Station after a massive nuclear war starts down on earth. They must put their feelings for each other aside and fight for their lives and for the wellbeing of their countries.
This movie honestly has a really solid message about the dangers of unwavering nationalism. Being that there are only six characters in the movie you get to know all of them and in most cases find yourself liking all of them in one way or another. You see a violent transformation from friendly scientists on a space station to fighting for their lives against a perceived enemy.
The entire cast is really good, but Pilou Asbæk is the standout. He is the anchor that tries to hold everyone’s humanity intact. Asbæk shows the emotional conflict caused by being ordered to kill people you see as friends really well. John Gallagher Jr. shows the effects of desperation and Costa Ronin shows how dangerous nationalism can be. Chris Messina and Masha Mashkova show how love can affect conflict. Finally, Ariana Debose plays the main character well, but is probably the most one note character in the movie and in turn the most forgettable.
The set design is good for the most part. It takes place on a space station so there are only four or five sets in the entire movie and all of them look very good. The scenes outside of the station don’t look nearly as good with noticeably bad CGI. Although the larger pieces of CGI are not great they aren’t so bad that they’ll take you out of the movie.
The story, although holding a great message, is pretty plain during its 95 minute runtime. It doesn’t really do anything new or exciting with the premise and sadly doesn’t have very many memorable moments. The one memorable moment in the movie is the final shot in one of the fight scenes that looks absolutely amazing. It kind of feels like they built the movie around that specific fight scene because it is noticeably better than the rest of the movie.
Overall “I.S.S.” is a space thriller that is enjoyable to watch, but most of the time plays it safe with the contents of its story. It leaves little impact after watching, but even with that is still an okay movie.
Directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite
Starring: Ariana DeBose, Chris Messina, John Gallagher Jr., Masha Mashkova, Costa Ronin, Pilou Asbæk
Rated R
Runtime: 95 minutes
My Rating: ★★★