Astrópía

Not expecting much of anything when going to the cinema to watch the film Astropia, or Dorks & Damsels, I truly thought I was going to see some kind of a dorky female Schwarzenegger action hero. I was more than slightly overwhelmed by the imagination of the writers. How the world of reality is overtaken by the fantasy of role playing games works quite well. The film is low budget and stands no comparison to Hollywood action films, so don't expect any high-tech computerised scenes. But the love of the actors for this film is obvious, it shines through and that made me happy watching the film. The filmmakers do an excellent job and so do all the actors. Just go see it and have an enjoyable time.

Were this an American movie, the producers would doubtless hope to cast Reese Witherspoon in the lead. It's the story of a bimbo girlfriend who has to fend for herself after her slimeball car-dealership-owning boyfriend is arrested. Ragnhildur Steinunn Jónsdóttir starts out as a plastic-y trophy and grows into someone cute, warm, and surprisingly capable. It's a trajectory not unlike Legally Blonde, and Ragnhildur Steinunn Jónsdóttir handles her role as Hildur as convincingly and engagingly as Witherspoon did in her corresponding role.

I don't play role-playing games, or even video games, and my taste in movies tends to the heavier stuff, but I like to praise the rare lightweight upbeat movies that work for me. It's not saccharine, and while Astrotopia (what Netflix calls this movie) is clichéd in the overall arc of the plot, it is relatively fresh in the moment-to-moment of the movie. I'm not big on visual gimmicks, but the scene-fades into comic-book panels are precisely appropriate and an added little delight.

The scenes and characters in the nerdy fantasy store where Hildur finds work were reminiscent of the record store scenes in High Fidelity. Not exactly new territory, but enjoyable in the same way.

Overall the movie had a nice quirky quality without being too darn cute or shoving its upbeat-ness down the viewer's throat. I enjoyed it a lot more than I had expected I would.

I just came home from the cinema after watching this movie, and I'm absolutely in love with it.

Normally, when seeing an Icelandic film, you have to keep in mind that we're a small country with a small film budget, but Astrópía is one movie that has nothing to fear when being compared with big countries. In fact, I am proud to say that it was my country who came up with the idea for this wonderful film.

The story is about Hildur, a blond bimbo, who needs to get a job for the first time in her life after her boyfriend has been arrested. She gets a job at a geek shop called Astrópía, and slowly learns the way of the geek and how to survive a battle against orcs and ice witches. Through her friendship with her fellow role players (or party members), she grows into a stronger and more independent person.

This movie will leave you rolling on the floor with laughter without being degrading towards us geeks. In fact, the moral of the story is that geeks rule! At least that's what I think. But even non-geeks can enjoy it a lot, and get a glimpse into our silly little world.

The outdoor scenes are beautifully shot. Iceland simply is a perfect place for fantasy adventures with its mountains and waterfalls. The dialogue is well written and realistic and the characters are just adorable. It has wonderful humour, interesting action scenes and will make you love geeks, if you don't already.

Seriously, this is one of the best films I've seen this year and it deserves every single star I've given it.

Just saw this film on the Horror and Fantasy Festival in Haapsalu, Estonia. This is a remarkably warm, funny and well executed film and Ragnhildur Steinunn Jónsdóttir does very good work in her feature film debut as the brainless bimbo, who suddenly faces the need to earn her own living and gets a job as a salesgirl in nerd universe. It's beautifully shot and edited; the actors are very likable and the storyline is interesting and fresh. The film is funny without overly trying to be so and sweet without being cute. This is fun for both adults and children. Heartily recommended. Congratulations to everyone involved.

I was really looking forward to this movie, since I did enjoy The Guild web series. Unfortunately, this movie is made very amateurishly, almost as if it was written by a high school student. I found myself fast forwarding to the LRPG parts after about 45 minutes of boring superfluous exposition. It wastes too much time on the character development. Normally, I do prefer it, but in this instance, it just seems to be used as a means to make the movie longer than it needs to be. The story is basically a revenge of the nerds type movie, with a few funny scenes but overall kind of harsh on the audience it's meant to entertain.