Today’s quick review: Space Detective. Shiro (Matt Sjafiroeddin), a private investigator with cybernetic eyes, returns to the bustling space station of Carina Dawn to take a job for his old flame Jinks Darkanian (Angela Rysk). Jinks wants Shiro to steal a datapad from her husband (Nemo Strang) that could give her the leverage she needs to finally leave him. But the information on the pad proves more dangerous than either Shiro or Jinks expected.
Space Detective is an animated sci-fi crime drama with noir influences. Set in a garish, crime-ridden future, Space Detective follows a hard-boiled Terran as he takes on his toughest case yet. The movie tries to carve out a niche for itself with an eclectic world and a distinctive art style. However, its efforts are hindered by a low budget, a mediocre script, and dubious taste, making Space Detective a fringe pick at best.
Space Detective’s distinguishing feature is its art style. The characters are black-and-white animation over a live-action base, combining the smooth motions of live-action with the greater flexibility of character design that animation provides. The backgrounds are a combination of simple animation, CGI, and photos of space, all drenched in kaleidoscopic color. In principle, this lets the movie make efficient use of its animation budget.
Unfortunately, the art style falls short in practice. The visual effects are rough, the costumes are clumsy, and the backgrounds are cobbled together. Even ignoring the visuals, the world is hard to get into: a grimy pastiche of modern culture filtered through the lens of sci-fi conventions. To the movie’s credit, it never takes itself too seriously, but its pop culture references and crass jokes are anything but artful.
As for its story, Space Detective is a bare-bones noir with a weak premise and lackluster acting. The story serves its basic purpose, showing off the world of the film and serving up some modest action, but none of the twists are especially surprising. The movie also sets a few hooks for a potential sequel, time that would have been better spent beefing up the main plot.
Ultimately, Space Detective will not have broad appeal. Its quirky flavor of sci-fi will only appeal to a subset of fans, its garish visuals are creative but not especially pleasing, and its story and acting don’t have the depth needed to pick up the slack. The end result is a movie that gambles big and fails. Viewers with a taste for unconventional budget movies may still want to give it a shot, but most viewers should steer clear.
For a more lavish portrait of an alien city, try Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones. For a more adventurous crime drama set in space, try Solo: A Star Wars Story. For a more methodical black-and-white sci-fi movie that uses animation based on live-action, try Renaissance. For a much richer, character-driven animated sci-fi adventure, try Cowboy Bebop: The Movie.
[7.0 out of 10 on IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5853664/). I give it a 5.0 for creative art with poor execution.