If someone says “Roland Emmerich” to you, what’s the first thing you think of? Huge-scale disaster? Aliens? Toppled cities? Sceptic political figures? Nerdy conspiracists? You get all that and more in Moonfall.
From Independence Day (and it’s dire sequel), to 2012 and The Day After Tomorrow, Emmerich has become synonymous with disaster sci-fi on a gargantuan scale. He’s destroyed London, New York, Chicago and multiple other cities over the course of his career, and he’s back again with Moonfall. But how good is this latest disaster flick?
The world stands on the brink of annihilation when a mysterious force knocks the moon from its orbit and sends it hurtling toward a collision course with Earth. With only weeks before impact, NASA executive Jocinda “Jo” Fowler (Halle Berry) teams up with a man from her past (Patrick Wilson) and a conspiracy theorist (John Bradley) for an impossible mission into space to save humanity.
From the director of 2012 and Independence Day it’s probably hard for you to believe that Moonfall is Emmerich’s most ridiculous film to date, but it’s true. Any shred of logic or science is completely thrown out of the window in what has to be the most bizarre cinema experience I’ve had in years – but unlike Independence Day 2, Moonfall is an absolute blast from start to finish.
From a film-making perspective, Moonfall is put together incredibly well. The CGI is on-point, as it needs to be for this genre of films, and it doesn’t take itself too seriously. This isn’t a film about climate change, far from it, so the serious tone in films like The Day After Tomorrow is completely absent and it feels camp, light and cheesier than a fromagerie.
The cast is completely aware of how ridiculous the premise of the film is, and because they are in on the joke, it means that the audience can just go along for the ride. The dialogue is daft and the acting a little ropey in places, but overall its solid. It’s always nice to see Halle Berry on our screens, and alongside Patrick Wilson they make a good leading duo.
But the film belongs to conspiracist KC Houseman (John Bradley). His bizarre theories about what the moon actually is and how he comes to discover this phenomenon of the moon moving in and out of orbit make up the best parts of the film. His character is similar to Woody Harrelson’s in 2012 – no one believes the nutter, but they are right all along.
However, the characters definitely play second fiddle to what is blowing up on screen. As is the case with most films in Emmerich’s back catalogue, the effects and action are number 1, and on occasion, there’s nothing wrong with that whatsoever. We don’t always need the slow burn of films from Denis Villeneuve or the mind-bending plots of Christopher Nolan and it would be unfair to even put forward a comparison.
The problem with Moonfall is that it doesn’t quite know what type of film it’s trying to be. The finished product feels disjointed as we shift from different story threads – some on earth and some in space, meaning there are two different genres butting heads. Is this a sci-fi film like Independence Day or a disaster flick like The Day After Tomorrow? It’s an unusual hybrid that doesn’t quite work all of the time.
But for fans of relentless action, there’s much to enjoy. From car chases that defy all laws of logic to beautifully rendered “gravity waves”, it’s all here and a lot more besides.
Final thoughts
Overall, Moonfall is reserved for those who just want to go to the cinema to see something as bizarre and illogical as possible. With crisp CGI and a plot that you probably couldn’t even believe is unfolding in front of you, it offers more than enough bang for your buck.
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