Moonfall is the perfect January movie. This flick is the perfect antidote to the overly serious Oscar season full of heavy dramatic films. It is also one of the most grim and cold months of the year, so a summer-esque blockbuster about the world ending is the right kind of escapism.
Moonfall is exactly what the name implies. Something has happened to our moon and we’ve only just noticed its changing orbital path that’s spiraling towards Earth. Seemingly, only a small group of people have the know-how to possibly prevent our ultimate extinction. Former astronauts, Brian Harper (Patrick Wilson) and Jocinda Fowl (Halle Berry) reunite after a previous tragic mission to make one final attempt to save the world. Though, they must act fast as tsunamis, gravity waves, and societal chaos quickly destroy countless lives.
Roland Emmerich, who didn’t invent the disaster movie, but definitely owned the 90s because of it; is in the director’s chair and this is his modern attempt to outdo everything he’s done before. It’s almost as if he went through his shelf of movies, grabbed The Day After Tomorrow, 2012, Stargate, and Independence Day at random and said, “Yeah, this’ll work!”
Honestly, he’s not wrong. I can’t imagine Moonfall making a deep impact (wink) at the box office with everything going on. Yet, this movie would have been huge back in the 90s, where it probably belongs. This feels like a time capsule of everything we expected from an galaxy-reaching disaster flick a few decades ago with every good/bad/ugly element. But wow, it is actually refreshing to see now.
Don’t get me wrong. You’re going to lose approximately 10,000 brain cells as you watch this movie, but those brain cells will die with a smile on their faces. The dialogue is beyond repair. Every scene and conversation leads up to one of the main characters monologuing about how the world let them down, but that it’s their job to save it. Halle Berry in particular tries to make every line she speaks an AFI Best Movie Quote of all time. Yet, her delivery is ironically hilarious.
Patrick Wilson is the one place-setting character actor that delivers every time. His overly serious characterization somehow makes this movie more enjoyable. Everything about this flick is ridiculous, but wow if he doesn’t sell it. This all leads us to the heart of the movie, with KC Houseman (John Bradley, or Samwell Tarly from Game of Thrones). He is the conspiracy theorist that has the unique knowledge that can prevent the Earth’s destruction. There’s something so adorable about how this very small group are specifically suited for this mission.
Here’s the thing, there are so many tertiary characters involved in the plot, and their subplots make for the silliest moments. No joke, there is a Fast & Furious hillbilly high speed chase as the moon’s gravity is uprooting everything on the streets. But even with these far-fetched plots, every character has an arc that is realized. Every character gets their own moment of redemption. Somehow, Emmerich was able to fit this all in exactly two hours.
There’s something so refreshing about a non comic book movie, where human characters must overcome all bombastically ridiculous odds for their own survival. Moonfall is a breath of fresh air, or at least a breath of fresh Nos. It has all the CG you’d expect from the director’s movies in the way that only he can produce. Your eyes will never be bored of what’s happening on screen. Add to this, the absolutely bonkers story that starts off as a traditional disaster flick and then keeps one-upping itself with insane leaps. I honestly kept asking myself if I was imagining the movie or if the plot was really that nuts. And thankfully, it really does get super weird.
Moonfall will never be remembered as a great movie. It suffers from genre-tired tropes that the director relies on. The dialogue and acting is just goofy at best and almost every moment is unbelievable. However, I got to a point where I couldn’t stop smiling. I loved the incredulity of the plot. This movie is not ashamed to exist and I love it even more for it. This disaster movie has reached a level of taking itself so seriously, while knowing the audience can enjoy the big, dumb elements it contains. This has all the entertainment and self awareness that Don’t Look Up didn’t and is basically a tribute to all sci-fi disaster movies that have come before. This is a C+ for quality, but is probably my favorite C+ movie ever.
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