The Definitive Guide to Living in the Capital , Cairo , Egypt

It’s 2018 and Sarah Palin is the president of the US. The world is far
more technologically advanced, while  not much has changed politically. Two
astronauts, one of whom, James Washington (Kirby), is a black male model, are
sent to the dark side of the moon as a publicity stunt to help Palin get
re-elected. They land and find that the moon is inhabited by Nazis who’d fled
the Earth in 1945 and built a colony there. Biding their time until the day
when they would amass the necessary strength, the plan is to come back and complete
Hitler’s vision. They’ve already built the biggest warship ever created by man,
but they just need a power source strong enough to get it flying which they
find in the form of Washington’s iPhone – until it runs out of battery that is.
In order to get some more iPhones, Klaus Adler (Otto), a Nazi general and
aspiring fuhrer, and Renate Richter, an expert on earthlings,  head to the Earth with Washington where they
become entangled in Palin’s election campaign.

Nazis. From. The. Moon. With that kind of subject matter, the film
should have been insane. But while it falls several notches short of insanity,
it is still completely absurd and, consequently, a whole lot of fun.

The first thing you notice about the film is that pretty much everything
except for the actors was made on a computer – and it all looks really good.
The film’s budget was probably less than what some Hollywood blockbusters spend
on catering, yet the film’s visuals are nothing to sneeze at. It has a very
camp, comic book style and wears its inspirations proudly on its sleeve,
like the Darth Vader-style Nazi spacesuits. 

The film is ridiculously camp but also deadly serious. It lifts contemporary global politics and sets in a completely absurd situation. So
while the film doesn’t add anything to the conversation, it’s hilarious because
it’s so relatable. The constant references to modern day politics may date the
film a bit for future watchers, but for now, it’s completely on point. The
Americans bear the brunt of the jokes which mostly revolve around how they’ll
do anything to get their hands on energy sources and how their presidents love
wars because they get them re-elected.

It isn’t all politics though. One of the best and most memorable
characters is an advertising executive who comes up with the smart idea of
incorporating Klaus and Renate into the presidential campaign. It plays on
every single stereotype about advertisers selling their soul to the devil and
being devoid of a conscience. Sergeant plays the character as a single-minded,
self-obsessed opportunist and her performance is consistently hilarious.

While the film is good fun, with a concept this cool and a cast who know
exactly how to handle the kitsch factor, it should have pushed more boundaries.
By the end of the film, you’ve been reasonably entertained but you’re still
left with a feeling of what if? What if the film had been a bit bolder and had
gone beyond the obvious digs?