In the not too distant future we find a crew of menial labor astronauts that crew a giant garbage space-station that is designed to clear debris from the orbital lanes of Earth. Soon after they recover a mysterious dimensional device, the crew discovers all life on Earth has ceased to exist and that they face an even greater crisis when a genetically mutated rubber duck terrorizes the station.
Starring Amanda Tapping, Billy Boyd, Kristin Kreuk and Robin Dunne, Space Milkshake was the perfect ending to an already perfect day of science fiction at the inaugural Other Worlds Austin Sci-Fi festival. George Takei voices the rubber duck named Gary.
I absolutely loved this film and loved that there is still such a thing as a lighthearted sci-fi comedy. It's refreshing to see space humor at the hands of smaller name actors and TV stars too. Sure George Takei is a household name and Billy Boyd was a hobbit, but trust me when I say that it does not cast one shadow on the chemistry between these actors.
Boyd is comically eccentric as the Station's captain and fuels the blue-collar humor with his various quirks and idiosyncrasies. The fact that the film is set on a garbage space station only adds to the humor as the close proximity of the crew results in hilarious and often ridiculous scenarios. Ridiculous is actually the perfect word to describe this film but it's also just plain fun. It reminded me a lot of something like the Red Dwarf series only with more sci- fi references and shenanigans.
George Takei is giant mutated rubber duck, what more could you possibly need to make you want to watch this movie? Its delightful fun for just less than 90 minutes, but it still retains an authentic feel to a futurist space story. The audience (*of sci-fi fans) was absolutely rolling in their seats at the various crew interactions and Billy Boyd's performance. I feel the need to add that asterisk in there just for good measure as your average movie-goer probably isn't going to find a hodgepodge of comedic science fiction very funny.
The humor is probably on the same level as something as Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy or the before mentioned Red Dwarf series, but whether you're a dedicated fan of those works or not, you're sure to at least crack a smile in Space Milkshake. Billy Boyd plays the Michael Scott of space albeit with more scenes of him barking orders in his underpants and squaring off with a giant mutated rubber duck.
Read the full review and others like it on the Drive-in Zeppelin Website
