Moonfall – Movie Review

120 Minutes, Rated PG-13

Written and Directed by Roland Emmerich

**NOTE: this post will be updated with audio once we actually have the chance to talk about it. Until then, enjoy this brief look at my thoughts. Stay tuned.**

Synopsis:

A mysterious force knocks the Moon from its orbit around Earth and sends it hurtling on a collision course with life as we know it. With mere weeks before impact and the world on the brink of annihilation, NASA executive and former astronaut Jo Fowler is convinced she has the key to saving us all – but only one astronaut from her past, Brian Harper and a conspiracy theorist K.C. Houseman believes her. These unlikely heroes will mount an impossible last-ditch mission into space, leaving behind everyone they love, only to find out that our Moon is not what we think it is.

Stop me if you’ve heard this one: “That’s no moon…”

Do you know what a “Mega-structure” is?

If you’ve ever been in the deepest, darkest recesses of the conspiracy-internet, you know.

Anyway, the latest cinematic offering from director Roland Emmerich hit theaters today, and I have got to say, for the guy who gave us the world-ending films Independence Day (1 AND 2!), along with the 1998 incarnation of Godzilla, The Day After Tomorrow, and 2012, he really took a moon-shot with this one.

*See what I did there?*

Yes, Moonfall is the latest “the world is going to end unless a small, rag-tag group of cast-offs can somehow save us” entry in Emmerich’s directorial resume, and it takes all of the lunacy of his previous offerings, looks at them, and says “hold my beer.”

Then promptly reaches for the tequila bottle. The cheap stuff.

Physics? Pfft! Doesn’t matter.

Technological impossibilities? Not a problem.

I screened Moonfall in IMAX, and I gotta tell ya: it’s Big.

And Loud.

And yes: Stupid.

Very Stupid.

But…

That might be okay.

I know what you’re thinking: What?! “That might be okay?” Are you insane?

I know, I know… but hear me out.

By shamelessly throwing caution, any semblance of realism, and pushing the willingness of the audience to willingly suspend their disbelief, it’s entirely possible that Moonfall might also be… fun?

Yes, if you’re looking for a breath of cinematic fresh air after a long, dark winter of heavy, awards-bait movies (Spider-Man: No Way Home not withstanding), then Moonfall may just be the movie you need.

Grab some popcorn, get comfy, and turn off every rational synapse in your brain and let the sheer magnitude of the film wash over you. Revel in its disregard for anything approaching “sense.”

Wonder aloud why Halle Berry and Patrick Wilson thought this would be a good idea.

Marvel at the fact John Bradley (fan-favorite from Game of Thrones) will appear in Moonfall and, in just 10 days (Valentine’s Day), the rom-com Marry Me with Jennifer Lopez and Owen Wilson.

I fully expected to hate-hate-hate this movie going in based on the trailer.

But God help me, I think I actually like it because it is exactly what it looks like it’s going to be. It could have been a more thoughtful science-fiction movie with the premise it uses. It could also have gone completely over into Space Force-level comedy without changing that premise.

Instead, it completely embraces the premise and plays it straight, as if daring people like me to judge it as something it neither is nor pretends to be.

Damn it. Go see it.

Moonfall is in theaters Today.

Moonfall stars Halle Berry, Patrick Wilson, John Bradley, Charlie Plummer, Michael Pena, Carlolina Bartczak, and Wenwen Yu.

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