Moonfall is the mystery of why the Earth’s moon is suddenly falling out of orbit and what can be done to stop it. Ten years ago, astronaut Brian Harper (Patrick Wilson) experienced a phenomenon in space that he was never able to explain and it resulted in his eventual disgrace within the NASA community. Now, facing a potential catastrophe, Wilson reunites with old crewmate Jocinda Fowler (Halle Berry) and a conspiracy theorist (John Bradley) to uncover the deadly truth about the moon and how to save the planet.
What works in Moonfall is its preposterousness. Writer/director Roland Emmerich (2012, The Day After Tomorrow) is very clear on what he’s selling: another one of his staple over-the-top disaster flicks. The formula cares less about characters (they all need redemption for “something”), and more about finding excuses to break the laws of astrophysics. The movie dials everything up to 11 right out of the gate and never lets up. The only break in action is the very welcome Bradley who tries to inject some levity into the proceedings and does so rather successfully. All-in-all, this is the Emmerich science fiction playbook—heavy on fiction and light on science all in the name of blowing things up and destroying cities.
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Without spoiling things, Moonfall opens up quite a bit in the final act into a somewhat different, intriguing, and engaging movie. Even the CGI is far superior in the last 30 minutes (it’s often distracting before then). Clearly Emmerich has bigger machinations to turn his film into a franchise, but it’s unclear if he takes too long getting to the good stuff—his concept, once revealed, has a lot of positive potential.
This movie is intense. Audiences who dislike mindless loud explosions strung together for two hours may not like Moonfall as much as others. In addition, the main characters are all basically walking cliches who don’t seem to comprehend how the world works and how humans actually speak. If one tries to take Moonfall seriously, all pretenses of enjoyment will evaporate immediately. The narrative consistently makes zero sense as the “rules” are consistently rewritten to accommodate whatever ridiculous situation Emmerich thought would add drama, tension, or excitement.
Moonfall has a good ideas, but it’s tough road getting to them. If Emmerich had eased up off the gas pedal a little bit and tried to inject a bit more fun into the proceedings, this would be a great popcorn film. Unfortunately, with shallow characters, less budget than the pitch needed, and just overall “too much,” it’s a film you’d almost rather see the sequel to.
Moonfall is in theaters only, starting on Friday, February 4th.
Recommended if you Enjoyed: 2012, Independence Day: Resurgence
Nathan Troilo contributed to this review.
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