Somewhere in outer space, somewhat far into the future: An evil gouvernment wanted to create a super weapon for outer space warfare, the M.E.A.D. - short for Mobile Extrasensroy Autonomous Deceptor -, basically a device that can control very powerful and consistent illusions to throw the enemy off the track during attacks. Thing is, the system refused to kill, which makes it unusable from a militaristic point of view. So the three prototypes were to be scrapped, and the system's two developers, Friz (Samuel Hunt) and Tam (Kassandra Wright) to be eliminated. But somehow Friz gave his execution command led by Admiral Gillette (Robert Picardo) the slip and has escaped on one of the MEADs (voiced by Patton Oswalt), and since they've ben playing a game of cat-and-mouse with their former employers, and especially Admiral Gillette, who lost a hand in Friz's escape attempt and has since developed a Moby Dick-like relationship with the last surviving MEAD. Friz however is good at giving the good admiral the slip every now and again, and during one such maneuvre has even time to pick up one of his escaped prisoners, Phoebe (Lillie Young), who eventually becomes an invaluable assed in both his operation and his life. But then MEAD runs out of its preferred fuel, dark matter, and to refuel, MEAD has to make a stop at Gillette's home base on Jupiter moon Ganymede. Now Friz's imagination, which includes teddy bears, dinosaurs, giant robots and vintage fighter jets, makes MEAD evade Gillette's defenses, and our heroes get their hands on the dark matter, but before they can properly install it, they already have Gillette on their tail - and Gillette wears a helmet that cancels out all illusions that Friz and MEAD throw at him ...

Based on the 1972 comicbook Fever Dreams by writer Jan Strnad and artist Richard Corben (which admittedly I have yet to read), this film proves to be ... just so much fun really. Now in terms of production design, it doesn't go for a retro look but rather stays true to science fiction/space operas of its day, and while some of the myriad of special effects can't shake their CGI origins, they still convince due to their sheer inventiveness and intentional silliness - from floating teddy bears and rubber ducks to the actual design of the MEAD. But what really makes the film is that beneath all the effects work it actually has a heart, and its storytelling is more character- than spectacle-oriented, and on top of that the Moby Dick-references sure are a touch of genius, making this one really cool watch, actually.