MOONFALL (2022)

MOONFALL (2022)

Tagline: In 2022, Humanity will face the dark side of the Moon.

(Sci-Fi, Action, Free Bagels) [PG-13]

No, we're just inside the moon.

In this one, something has knocked the moon off its axis. As it hurls towards the earth, humanity has 3 weeks to try and figure out what to do about it as everything descends into chaos and fear. Jo Fowler now head of NASA, seeks out Brian Harper a disgraced astronaut is called upon to make one last effort to deal with the threat, but he is going to need the help of conspiracy theorist K.C. Houseman. Mainly because the conspiracy theorists even if they are sometimes wrong, always know more about crazy subject matters than any of the so-called mainstream experts. Can these three save the world from a sixth extinction event? 

First off, I don’t know if the world has had 5 extinction events. I am just sighting a line from one of the characters in the movie played by Donald Sutherland. It should be noted that even though Donald Sutherland is in this movie, he gets maybe 3 minutes of screen time, so if you are a fan of his like I am, don’t get super excited. 

In the world of sci-fi, there is a very broad brush you are able to paint with. This movie takes that brush and a few spray cans and just goes bat-stuff crazy tagging everything including the space shuttle with it. Writer Roland Emmerich (best known for INDEPENDENCE DAY) doesn’t give a crap about your physics or your sense of realism. He takes that spray can and smashes it against common sense like a cat jumping from a 5 story building without a second thought. So when I see people complaining about this movie in the “no that can’t happen” sense, it just makes me shake my head. 

Acting-wise this movie is solid as heck. Charlie Plummer is good in this but was probably actually better in a far worst film called SPONTANEOUS. Patrick Wilson (probably best known for AQUAMAN) is solid as Brian Harper. I really like Harper’s ability to play both heroes and villains while still remaining relatable. Halle Berry is terrific as Jo Fowler but wasn’t asked to show a ton of range in this. Michael Peña (best known for ANT-MAN) plays Tom Lopez in this and does a good job. He is one of 3 or 4 characters that get a chance to show some character growth which is cool. John Bradley is solid in this as kind of the comic relief K.C. Houseman, but I think I would rather we had gotten Josh Gad here. Josh was originally part of the project but had to drop out due to scheduling. The reason I think Gad would have been better is that they could literally have used his character Ludlow Lamonsoff from PIXELS and had at least a fun loose connection between the two movies. Lamonsoff was a big-time conspiracy theorist in PIXELS, so oi…it just feels like a missed opportunity.  

Cinematically everything in this movie looks absolutely beautiful and I don’t have any issues with the editing, but I kind of wish they had spent 5 minutes or so showing the world's reaction to what was going on outside of the riots and spotty news clips. Even a bit of explanation of what happened with Jo and her husband Doug (played by Eme Ikwuakor). I also loved the score and soundtrack. 

Overall this is another one of those big giant explosion movies with lots of disasters, but we also get an unexpected amount of heart. I really don’t get the complaints on this thing. I have to give this one a 6 out of 7. It’s a perfect example of why some movies are just that meant for the biggest screen you can find.

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