49. Moonfall; movie review

 

MOONFALL

Cert 12A

130 mins

BBFC advice: Contains infrequent strong language, moderate threat, violence, drug misuse

Gosh! Was Moonfall really meant to be a comedy?

I suspect not but the weirdly stilted dialogue, the continuity gaffes and the laughable resolutions all add up to a giant mess of a movie.

Anticipation was high before the first blockbuster of 2022 but Roland Emmerich has made the key mistake of putting special effects before storyline.

Thus, we are left with characters who are strangely superficial, scenes which defy plausibility and elements which simply don't make sense.

The premise is that a science geek (John Bradley) makes an astonishing discovery that the moon has been knocked from its orbit.

He is dismissed as a crank but pretty soon NASA has established that he is correct and begins taking action.

It is also believed that the phenomenon may have a connection with a failed space mission of ten years previous in which astronaut (Patrick Wilson) claimed his vessel had been attacked by an unknown being.

He was discredited at the time but is cajoled by his former colleague (Halle Berry) to come out of the shadows and try to save the world.

At this stage, no other nations seem to have notice that the planet is on the cusp of being submerged beneath rocks from the moon and a gravity pull which is causing tidal waves.

Never mind about international co-operation or even the American President and his generals, the fate of earth lies in the hands of a nerdy conspiracy theorist, a sharp-tempered, disgraced former astronaut and a woman who suddenly finds herself in charge.

Meanwhile, her son is in peril and his dad is holding the key to a potential nuclear strike on the moon.

Oh, and the ex-astronaut's son is still in jail after leading a police chase so that is also occupying his mind as the entire of humanity's future is held within his hands.

It's a bewildering mish-mash and, consequently, there is a bizarre lack of tension even when the worst outcome seems inevitable.

Indeed, the end-of-the-world scenes are tepid compared even to non-blockbusters such as Don't Look Up.

Emmerich made his mark with his screen-busting films of the 1990s but time has moved on. Independence Day might have been great then but cinema audiences have become more discerning.

I suspect they will laugh at Moonfall rather than with it.

Reasons to watch: The first blockbuster of 2022

Reasons to avoid: makes very little sense

Laughs: Chuckles of embarrassment

Jumps: None

Vomit: None

Nudity: None

Overall rating: 3/10

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