Rated: M
Directed by: Roland Emmerich
Screenplay Written by: Roland Emmerich, Harald Kloser, Spenser Cohen
Produced by: Roland Emmerich, Harald Kloser
Starring: Halle Berry, Patrick Wilson, Donald Sutherland, Michael Peña.
‘We’re not prepared for this.’
Part disaster movie, part sci-fi, comedy and drama, Moonfall begins its journey in space. Where an anomaly throws a routine repair mission into a tragedy.
Jocinda (Halle Berry), AKA space wife loses her memory. And space hero Brian Harper (Patrick Wilson) loses everything.
After the tragedy is chalked up to human error, back on earth, Harper is now a fallen hero.
Fast forward ten years and something’s not right.
The moon is out of orbit and the first one to realise is megastructure conspiracist, K. C. Houseman (John Bradley).
But no one will listen.
‘Make them listen,’ says his mum.
So he does.
Being a Roland Emmerich film (think, Independence Day (1996), The Day After Tomorrow (2004) and 2012 (2012)), I expected a big budget disaster movie, and as already introduced, Moonfall is part disaster, part everything else.
Some notes hit, like the chuckles evoked from conspiracist, I-lost-two-mops, Houseman (you’ll recognise John Bradley as Sam in, Game of Thrones). And some notes didn’t with the suspense lost in the drama of Jocinda and her ex, military man, Doug Davidson (Eme Ikwuakor) and bad-boy son, Sonny (Charlie Plummer). And what I think was supposed to be an exchange student (?) Michelle (Kelly Yu).
I got a little lost down some rabbit holes.
But there’s a good foundation with a strong performance from Patrick Wilson and the movie’s saving grace, John Bradley.
And the effects on the big screen managed to distract from the sometimes forced, ‘I work for the American people and you’re keeping them in the dark,’ sentiment that made up about an eighth of the movie.
What was lacking in the emotional subtleties was glossed over with exploding cosmic rocks like fireworks and a looming, disintegrating moon pulling the ocean up and over high rise buildings.
Entertaining on the big screen and one of the better disaster movies with some attempt to dive into some interesting concepts.
What I enjoyed the most was the comedy.
So, a bit of an all-rounder.
I didn’t love it; didn’t hate it.
I had a giggle, liked the effects, made me wonder while some of the drama made me cringe.