Moonfall

Since Moonfall's script could not have been devised by even the most consummate conspiracy theorist, there can be no doubt that the filmmakers are not serious. In my opinion, this is a deliberate contribution to the category of not perhaps intentionally stupid, but logic-ignoring and the most insane fear-mongering B-movies of the 50s, 60s or 70s, which pretended to be serious, but were mainly concerned with entertaining the audience and packing cinemas. This is exactly the feeling I had, much stronger than in all of Emmerich's previous efforts. I like his work, but the films that stand out interestingly are 10,000 BC and Midway, which I liked the least by far. Why? Because Emmerich wanted to deliver a serious story on the one hand and a big visual effects spectacle on the other, but the combination didn't work. At the same time, a serious story without lavish effects can certainly be made (The Patriot, Anonymous) as well as overblown visual effects spectacles that don't take themselves seriously, whether they're about saving or destroying our world or another, or just a proper 80s school action flick (the, in my opinion, underrated White House Down). This time he dispensed with the need for any seriousness altogether, coming up with a wacky but really unorthodox plot that allowed him to destroy a bit more and differently than what and how he had been destroying so far. The plot is heavily condensed, a couple of days go by without warning between several scenes, during which something important happens that other films would spend more time on, and meanwhile the giant moon is approaching the Earth, constantly rising and setting, doing doggy stunts with gravity that make many scenes really crazy and funny. For example, the naivety with which they travel back and forth from Earth and solve individual problems is almost Meliés-like. You watch it with a smile, see how nice it looks, enjoy the truly original design of the monster... If I like the naive films that this reminded me of, then I have no reason not to like Moonfall. (02/04/2022)

I admit I enjoyed Moonfall and I had a dumbfounded smile on my face during all the derailed craziness. However, you have to approach it as a total no-brainer (especially when listening to the dialogues). It was a pleasant surprise that John Bradley's character, who I was most worried about after watching the trailers, ended up being the movie's highlight. I enjoyed the plotline with him, Patrick Wilson, and Halle Berry. However, Moonfall also features a forced parallel plotline with family members on earth, which weighs it down, so it drags, and those moments were a stumbling block for me. Scenes with horribly written, uninteresting, unlikable, and even horribly acted characters (I do not want to see Charlie Plummer in anything again, ever) turned a stupid, if entertaining, guilty pleasure into a painful embarrassment. (04/12/2022)

In Moonfall, there is not even a trace of anything that made last year’s The Tomorrow War, a B-movie in the same genre, so great (inventive work with clichés, sincere emotions, nice visual stylization). Emmerich disappeared into a black hole. This can’t be his movie. Or maybe he's just realizing that he has nothing left to say after 2012. An Asylum screenplay with an A-list cast. I still can’t believe that I saw Patrick Wilson and Halle Berry reciting that dialogue. (02/03/2022)

In terms of price and performance, Roland Emmerich has already destroyed the planet several times in a much better way and with a nicer humanistic furor. This incel-conspiracy vision is fine as long as it plays by the rules of a disaster film, but then my brain was skipping out on this attempt at lobotomized sci-fi. It should have ended up on Netflix, because I haven't seen such ugly green-screens on the big screen in a long time. Being able to put the laundry in the washing machine and look out the window would only have added to the film. I don’t expect much from Emmerich, but certainly something more fun than Moonfall. (02/03/2022)

Yesterday I was in Apollo 10 1/2, today it’s the regular Apollo 11... Emmerich destroys a planet again in a similar way, but this time he does it a bit differently. Perhaps everything is a bit more laid back here and the destruction isn’t as opulent as in his previous disaster hits like 2012 or the climatic The Day After Tomorrow. This time round, the destruction somehow takes a back seat. The main things here are the journey to the center of the Moon and the mystery of the Dyson Sphere, entertaining mucking about involving a cloud and a decrepit space shuttle, family values and great lines. It’s a hair’s breadth worse than the other Emmerich movies to date, but it’s still good entertainment for two hours, during which your brain can get some rest. (04/03/2022)