7 plot holes in Netflix’s Space Sweepers: starring Song Joong-ki and Richard Armitage, the Korean sci-fi film wowed viewers after Covid-19 delays – but had its hiccups too

South Korean sci-fi blockbuster Space Sweepers was hotly anticipated after Covid-19 delayed its release and sent it from the cinema straight to Netflix – resulting in it being dropped overnight in 190 countries in 31 different languages. The entertaining caper across the galaxy also marks the return of South Korean heartthrob Song Joong-ki to the silver screen after his divorce from Song Hye-kyo, reuniting with A Werewolf Boy director Jo Sung-hee. So when the film finally aired this weekend, we were all naturally excited to see if it was worth the hype. The cast and crew of Space Sweepers have yet to announce whether a sequel will be made, but we’ve got our fingers crossed that we’ll see more of the spaceship Victory traipsing across the galaxy soon. But although the banter among the ship’s unruly crew charmed us, and the amazing special effects and immense world building have won praise from viewers, there were quite a few plot holes that left us wondering. Spoilers ahead: read on at your own risk. Which 5 items did BTS’ Jungkook cause to sell out across Korea? The relationship between James Sullivan and Tae-ho View this post on Instagram A post shared by ááµá·áá¢ááµ taerikimð¹ (@kimtaeri_1) “Big bad” UTS Corporation boss James Sullivan (played by Richard Armitage, aka Thorin Oakenshield in The Hobbit) and one of his assistants briefly mention that Song’s character, protagonist Tae-ho, was the first and only orphan that Sullivan took in – and subsequently turned into a child soldier. Sullivan alludes to it during the confrontation with Tae-ho aboard his ship, Victory, but no further elaboration is given on why he chose to rescue Tae-ho specifically. Sullivan’s modified body View this post on Instagram A post shared by Richard Armitage (@richardcarmitage) Throughout the film, we see red roots start to appear beneath Sullivan’s skin when he’s angry, but no explanation is given as to what they are. In a short scene where Sullivan’s body is being scanned, one of the screens shows that his body is 98 per cent artificial organs – could they be nanobots? However, given that only Dorothy is able to control nanobots among the cast, and she is eventually revealed to be the only known “miracle” case where nanobots were successfully injected into a human, it seems unlikely. Sullivan is also the oldest human in the film at 152 and his prolonged life, strength and youthful appearance also hint at some sort of genetic modification instead. How did UTS Corporation not find out about Su-ni? View this post on Instagram A post shared by Richard Armitage (@richardcarmitage) Tae-ho’s driving force in the film is to earn enough money so that he can hire a “missing persons” company to find the body of his adopted daughter Su-ni, who was swept into space during a tragic accident. The formerly ruthless commander of the Space Guards, Tae-ho and his troop once stormed a spaceship and massacred illegal immigrants from Earth – including Su-ni’s parents. Tae-ho immediately formed a bond with the baby, who he adopted and raised as his own. This resulted in him becoming averse to killing humans, which ultimately led to him losing his UTS citizenship and commander status for not doing his job. A sneak peek at the K-pop bands set to debut in 2021 But how did Tae-ho manage to raise Sun-ni for seven years in UTS territory without being caught by Sullivan, who seems to be an all-knowing, paranoid control freak? How did Tae-ho even manage to sneak her onto his ship without the other members of his troop noticing, since their suits can detect life forms? The only reason Tae-ho gets kicked out is because he stops killing, not because he illegally saved Su-ni (whom he even mentions he should have sent back to Earth). How does Sullivan not have jurisdiction on Earth? View this post on Instagram A post shared by Netflix Korea (@netflixkr) During their escape from the Space Guards, Captain Jang (played by an excellent Kim Tae-ri) suggests heading to Earth where Sullivan has no power. But given that Earth seems to have no government and no protective field (unlike the space paradise Eden created by UTS), and that Sullivan seems to have total control over space, including who gets permission to enter it, as well as the mass media, it is highly unlikely anyone could actually stop him entering the dying Earth if he wanted to. How could Camilla/Space Guard 01 take out Bubs, but not Tiger Park? View this post on Instagram A post shared by SPACE SWEEPERS (@spacesweepersnetflixfilm) The wisecracking Bubs (voiced by a gleeful Yoo Hae-jin) is a former military android that specialises in assassination and infiltration, and also possess great strength that it uses to wield its signature harpoon. In one space fight, Bubs easily destroys Space Guard ships, harpooning them and even using them as weapons to smash other enemy ships. However, in the final act of the film, Camilla (or Space Guard 01) easily defeats Bubs without the use of her powerful robotic suit. While this eventually leads to a dramatic battle between her and the gangster with a heart of gold, Tiger Park (Jin Seon-Kyu), how did Bubs suddenly become so weak? Was Camilla altered? Even Tae-ho is apparently nowhere near as strong as her, although admittedly he’s been out of the force for some time. If Sullivan controls the mass media, why did it play that clip? View this post on Instagram A post shared by Netflix Korea (@netflixkr) Sullivan’s carefully cultivated persona of a “saviour” falls apart when a damning recording from the emergency channel is passed to the media, who play it on live television. But the film made it clear that all of UTS’s mass murders and crimes were covered up in the past, so why did the TV station choose to believe and play that clip? 5 K-pop idols who were breaking gender norms years ago How did Dorothy control the Lagrangian nanobots at such a distance? At the climax of the film, Tae-ho and crew are racing as far away from Dorothy as possible, in order to get out of range so that the hydrogen bomb they’re carrying won’t affect her. As a “miracle child” and the only human to successfully have nanobots within her body, Dorothy has the power to both “give life” to plants using nanobots, and to protect the crew from lasers at close distance. But at 5,132km away, how was she able to call Lagrangian nanobots at that exact moment? Want more stories like this? Sign up here. Follow STYLE on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter.