Cosmoball
review by Bobby Blakey
While Well Go USA is most noted for their Asian films they continue to bring a wide variety of films to the market. Their latest release is the Russian sci-fi superhero flick Cosmoball based on the French animated series Galactik Football. The film stars Evgeniy Mironov, Evgeniy Romantsov, Viktoriya Agalakova, Maria Lisovaya and Ivan Ivanovich with director Dzhanik Fayziev at the helm. Could this flick bring the action and fun as the trailer hinted at or will it fail to score a save for the universe?
​
Cosmoball takes place after an intergalactic battle that destroys Earth’s moon and causes worldwide devastation, leaving the human race desolate and clinging to survival. The film follows four athletes with the rare ability to teleport, which makes them the only humans capable of playing “cosmoball,” a dangerous sport requiring unimaginable speed, reflexes, and courage. While the rest of the world religiously scans the sky to catch the high-flying tournaments, no one suspects that with each match, they are actually witnessing four young humans fighting furiously to ensure the survival of humankind.
​
Heading in I only knew what I saw in the trailer so was on the fence what to expect. Visually it reminded me of the 2017 flick Valerian And The City Of A Thousand Planets. This isn’t a bad thing as it is a vibrant feast for the senses that is fun to watch despite it feeling more like a video game than fully blending into the real world counterparts. I think this might have been the idea given the source material and after a bit it was fine and I bought into what they were trying to do. The action is fun to watch and creative approach blending sports and war, but outside of these elements the film struggles quite a bit.
​
The performances are pretty flat and never give much depth to any of the characters. Part of this is the story itself tries its best to be something bigger
than it is, but needed to be more fleshed out to really get its full effect. There is some fun to be had here, but so much is crammed in that the stuff needed to make it truly stand out is rushed through just to get to the next action sequence. At the same time this helps to keep it moving at a decent pace and getting past a lot of not so interesting character moments.
​
The whole thing floats more in the world of films like Shark Boy and Lava Girl that will no doubt be fun for kids despite it not really being a kids movie. I found the overall film fun to watch but is a bit of a struggle at times when the visual effects and action aren’t there to carry it. I applaud the filmmakers for trying to create something like this that is at least different and entertains.
​
Grab your copy of Cosmoball available now on Blu-ray and DVD from Well Go USA.