Captain Eager and the Mark of Voth

Made as a salute to  crummy ’50s sci-fi B-pics and the square-chinned exploits of such raygun-toting heroes as Dan Dare, Simon DaVison’s loopy labour of love succeeds where other offerings of pure homage (most recently ‘Grindhouse’) failed.

Here, the budget was minimal (most of the sets were made of cardboard), the action is relayed totally straight and there’s a real sense that DaVison has a fondness for the material he’s sending-up. Many will find it tedious and obtuse, but if you can make it past the first half-hour, you shine to the shoddy CGI and dialogue that is constructed entirely from cliché.

And what clunky sci-fi movie would be complete without a thinly veiled political subtext? Enjoyably ironic turns from James Vaughan as the plucky Captain and Tamsin Greig and Mark Heap as his sidekicks help propel this interplanetary mini-epic skyward.