Moonfall – Perfect Popcorn Fun
Director: Roland Emmerich
Writer: Roland Emmerich, Harald Kloser, Spenser Cohen (Screenplay)
Starring: Halle Berry, Patrick Wilson, John Bradley, Charlie Plummer, Kelly Reilly, Michael Pena, Carolina Bartczak
Plot: In Moonfall, a mysterious force knocks the Moon from its orbit around Earth and sends it hurdling 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 believe her. These unlikely heroes will mount an impossible last-ditch mission into space, leaving behind everyone they love, only to find that they might have prepared for the wrong mission.
Tagline – In 2022, Humanity will face the dark side of the Moon.
Runtime: 2 Hours
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Moonfall starts when disgraced astronaut Brian Harper (Wilson) believes he saw an unexplainable event on the moon during an incident in space. 10-years-later KC Houseman (Bradley) has noticed the orbital line of the moon changing, while Brian’s former crewmate Jocinda Fowler (Berry) leads the NASA team trying to solve the problem.
When it is discovered, the moon is going to collide with the Earth, Jocinda leads a mission to solve the problem and save the world, teaming back up with Brian and KC to do so, while the people back on Earth search for safety.
Thoughts on Moonfall
Characters & Performances – Jocinda Fowler is a former astronaut who has become the deputy head of NASA after not knowing anything that happened on the mission which ruined her partnership. She knows the risks she is taking by continuing to fight for the mission to happen, leading it with the person she trusts the most. Brian Harper is the former astronaut who has been disgraced because he won’t keep quiet about what he saw, which will see him lose everything, struggling to keep his life together in the aftermath, but his love for his son will drive him back to save the world. Halle Berry and Patrick Wilson are both great in their roles here. KC Houseman is a conspiracy theorist that will finally see his belief become a reality when he finds out the information about the moon, he tracks down the only person who understand what it is like to be considered crazy and looks to get the message out to prove himself. KC will get all the laughs in the film, giving us the character, we want to see the most in the film. John Bradley is the scene stealer in this film, brilliant to watch. Where the film will suffer comes from the families left behind, trying to make drama back home, giving the astronauts a reason to fight to save someone. We have the thrown together new husband that isn’t a bad guy, just more successful, trying to do the right thing, while the rebelliously son needs to put his life back together.
Story – Moonfall is a disaster movie that will see the moon start to changes its orbit towards Earth with an impact incoming, with a former astronaut needing to lead a mission to save the world. When it comes to the concept behind what is going on, we will dive into the world of conspiracy theories in one of the biggest battles to save the planet humans have ever faced. This is a big blockbuster styled story, so we know a lot of the character development isn’t that original, with most being basic, usually revolving around an ex-husband needing to help save the child they had with their ex who has moved on with a more successful husband, we get that in both leads, only with the reverse wife husband dynamic in play. Once you overlook this part of the story, you will see the chase, battles and plans to win this battle, don’t expect everything to make sense though.
Themes – Moonfall is a massive action sci-fi disaster incoming movie, that will give us enormous action sequences with destruction on Earth, which will compare to the other films Emmerich have done before. The space moments are the most interesting to watch, because what is created is amazing to behold, making us want to spend more time there than the moments on Earth.
Final Thoughts – Moonfall is everything you want in a mega disaster movie.
