Review of Iron Sky: The Coming Race

By Dave B.

Iron Sky: The Coming Race (2019) is the sequel to 2012’s “Iron Sky”. The follow-on takes place nearly 30 after the world was destroyed in a war against Moon Nazis in 2018 (yes, the premise of these movies is pretty insane). The remnants of humanity have occupied the Nazi moon base and are struggling for survival. When a ship filled with refugees makes it aboard the base, a surprise passenger offers the survivors an unexpected opportunity to change their grim fate. 

Like the original, Iron Sky: The Coming Race has surprisingly impressive visuals and some moments of humorous dialogue. It also possesses a madcap energy that propels the movie forward at a good clip and keeps it from being boring. But where the original film generally surprised to the upside, the sequel is a disappointment.

The overriding problem with Iron Sky: The Coming Race is that the plot is sloppy and non-sensical. A plot that is wild and unexpected can be a positive. A plot that feels like it was hastily thrown together and completely lacking in any sort of focus, never is. The reason: There’s no buy-in. At no point in the movie did I care what was happening or what was going to happen, largely because it seems that the writers felt the same way. That’s a big departure from the first film, where the stakes felt real, the characters weren't completely one-dimensional and their actions actually mattered, and viewers could easily become emotionally invested in the plot despite how zany it was. 

​I went into this movie inclined to like it and very much wanting to give it the benefit of the doubt due to how much I enjoyed its predecessor. But an inferior product is an inferior product, regardless of how much we wish that it weren’t. On it’s own, I can’t recommend Iron Sky: The Coming Race. It’s not a good movie and it’s probably not worth most viewers’ time. But if they make this series into a trilogy, I’ll probably give the third movie a chance. With one success and one failure, I figure there’s a decent chance that the writers can catch lightning in a bottle again. 

Service: currently on Netflix
Runtime: 92 Minutes
Rating: 4/10