Astrópía

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.

This is a comedy played for laughs and all you can ask of it is that it is consistently funny and it is exactly that and not very much more. Although it has some fantasy scenes that are well executed, they are taking part in the imagination of the characters and I wanted to see what was really going on as well, but perhaps the film makers knew that this would beggar belief in the outcome of the plot. Ultimately it doesn't matter because the jokes about real people speaking in fantasy parlance and fantasy characters speaking like real people is still very funny as is the concept of educating a superficial bimbo in the ways of "the force" (nerdism). This is the kind of film that I hope Hollywood picks up to be remade with some stars and a more refined script, hopefully making the Icelanders a fortune.

I was hoping for a Gus Van Sant or Inarritu style about the geek society. I guess i'm expecting too much from the cinema right now, it will take more years till this aspect will be dissected more psychologically than just the stereotype is portrayed.

Astropia is supposedly a light harted comedy about geeks. Nothing wrong with the incipit, the problem comes with the realization. Directing and editing is slightly above amateur work. The opening scene seems cut out from a TV shows and the several comic photos are, stylistically, just out of place. The movie plot is flat and uninteresting. The few comedic scenes could be funny if made right but due to the actors and directors inexperience they just drop dead. Afterall is a boring movie who could appeal to geeks just for a single view.

The most underrated Icelandic film. A completely neglected genre of comedy action adventure film. It's Legally blond meets Shawshank redemption with a touch of very refreshing imagination-to-reality style of fantasy role playing sequences. Don't let the negative reviews fool you. The film is perfectly fine for what it is. It's a light hearted comedy they doesn't take itself too seriously.

This movie portrays a young woman that thinks she is living the good life but because her boyfriend is arrested for misdeeds she finds herself alone and miserable. She struggles to get her life together and finds a job in the most unlikely place, a nerd store. There she finds new friends and journeys along side them with the power of imagination and RPG.

What is really brilliant about the story is that her "real life" was perhaps more of a fantasy then the RPG. Its an excellent mix of drama, comedy and adventure. Although the picture is graphic at times it still leaves a lot to your imagination which I really love.

A movie for everyone and I think anyone can relate to it.