Ridiculous, unrealistic, downright stupid, and a hell of a lot of silly fun. Roland Emmerich’s latest film, Moonfall, is all of these things, following more than three decades of ramblings that would typically have you sectioned under the mental health act. Emmerich’s films are the epitome of camp stupidity with a touch of tongue-in-cheek ridiculous spectacle, reminding us that films don’t have to be so glum and gritty. The film’s setup is that following a failed satellite repair in 2011, disgraced American astronaut Brian Harper (Patrick Wilson) is lost in a downward spiral.

Fellow astronaut and crewmate, Jocinda “Jo” Fowler (Hallie Berry), is revered within NASA for gently discrediting Brian’s account of events that killed a third crew member, Marcus. During Brian’s fall from grace he finds himself being meant to talk to kids at the Griffith Observatory. At this event, known English conspiracy theorist K. C Houseman (John Bradley) tells Brian of his theory that the Moon is, in fact, hollow and created by aliens. At the same time, NASA scientists call in Fowler after finding that the Moon has fallen out of its typical orbit. Now on a collision course with life on Earth, the three of them must work together to save life as we know it.

Functioning on the premise alone, I am sold. Once more, Emmrich throws away the concept of reality to make a disaster popcorn thriller flix that is once again simple, stupid, and fun. There are CGI-enhanced montages of out-of-this-world action set-pieces, predictable scientifically inaccurate nonsense spouted for plot convenience and moments that are plainly ridiculous. It’s not the perfect flick for every occasion but is a great big stupid blockbuster adventure that doesn’t make much sense at all once you think about it.

Dragging on for the first 45-50 minutes, the set-up of the first act and build to the action-packed second and third, makes the two-hour-long movie feel a bit bloated around the edges. Particularly this is true with the film hammering on how everyone distrusts Houseman and disregards the opinion of Harper now, setting up for pay-offs that never significantly blossom. In fact, a few relationships felt a little underserved as a result, making me almost openly say, “oh, that’s why those two have a connection.” One that is impoverished of such build is Berry’s Fowler, naturally understood to be fantastic as a leader without especially showing why ahead of her appointment into a new position.

For all its bloatedness and lack of core character set-up, it is a testament that the eccentricities of the West German-born director flow throughout. Sometimes there are laugh-out-loud moments of stupidity, such as a NASA scientist bouncing across the grounds of the shuttle take-off point as if the Earth suddenly has gravitational properties of the Moon. There are also gently heartwarming moments, such as when both Patrick Wilson’s Brian and Michael Peña’s Tom try to be good dads in different ways. Ultimately grounded by the unrealistic reveal of why the Moon has done what it is doing, sending any dour straight-faced viewers into an apoplectic rage.

Evidentially, if you go in anticipating something more spectacular than Emmerich’s greatest hits, Stargate and Independence Day, you will naturally be disappointed. As an escape from our collective hellscape that is itself crashing and burning into the ground with every second that passes, Moonfall is spectacularly outlandish and easy to make you forget about some worries for a short while. Sure, some dialogue lands in the mouth like chewing on incredibly large pebbles, and jumping across chasms the size of Arizona landmarks is as believable as those CGI dogs or even the ice from Emmerich’s other film The Day After Tomorrow. Nonetheless, it is great big stupidity, and I want more of it.

Phenixx Gaming is everywhere you are. Follow us on Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram.

Also, if you’d like to join the Phenixx Gaming team, check out our recruitment article for details on working with us.

Phenixx Gaming is proud to be a Humble Partner! Purchases made through our affiliate links support our writers and charity!

Moonfall

7

Score

7.0/10

Pros

• Emmerich's expertise for silly fun disaster flix.
• The final act reveal.

Cons

• Berry's Fowler is underdeveloped.
• Garbled nonsense dialogue and faux-science.
• Slow first act pacing.