I think this was basically most of my favorite elements of sci-fi put into one movie. I love the slow kind of sci-fi that puts pretentious music over shots of spaceships (the intro to Star Trek I being a good example). I thought it was very deliberate in its space politics and pacing. I would’ve wanted a full 90 minute movie of this, but If I’m being honest I think 60 minutes was perfect.
From what I’ve read so far in the book series (5 chapters into the 1st) there doesn’t seem to be any visual description of how the ships dock with a space port. So the movie decided to go with the coolest fucking thing ever. The ships lower themselves into their reflection, and once they completely enveloped they’re on the side of the space port. I don’t know if that’s supposed to be some giant cloaking device or they filmmakers just decided to not skimp out on visuals, but it was so great.