Movie Review: Moonfall

credit: Moonfall

Let’s put it this way when talking about Moonfall; there are enough elements of other movies seen in this feature to piece it together from scratch. Quite honestly, I wanted to be wowed by this movie since anything dealing with a disaster that could end the world is usually something that one expects to be epic. Unfortunately, after about an hour into this movie, it was kind of tough to think that it was going to get any better. It did get a little quicker and managed to create a sense of urgency that made it possible to keep watching the movie as it finally developed into something that was still wildly mediocre but finally turned into something that had enough action to keep people in their seats. Unfortunately for this movie, the premise still felt half-baked and gave the impression of a story that could inspire another movie if people were interested in seeing such a thing. In all honesty, it feels like it would be a little redundant after watching this movie. 

There were just too many elements that are reminiscent of other movies. 

It’s very easy to understand that this is going to happen in many movies since one element after another has been used over and over again. But being able to pick out each element as it comes along and how it will be used is kind of tiring since it feels like the writers simply copied and pasted the information into the script and then tried to make it appear original somehow. The use of killer AI, the idea of humans originating from somewhere else, and the idea that no one listens to the tales of disaster until it’s too late are all elements that have been done before more than once. While these elements can still combine to make a great movie, they tend to get old and sour if a writer doesn’t come up with another way to present them or a director doesn’t manage to find another style to use when trying to amaze the audience. Sadly, that doesn’t really happen here. 

Using the moon as a transport device as well as means of destroying the earth was interesting. 

It’s fair to say that a lot of people involved in the various sciences that would go into a project such as this would have something to say about how unlikely it would be to power a device such as the moon or even transport the device across the known galaxy. Their words would be accepted by a lot of people, but the need to tell the story would still be enough to get a lot of people on board with this idea. After all, one only needs to say that the technology is advanced beyond anything that humans are currently capable of, and voila, the story takes care of itself. A lot of folks are bound to have something to say about it and criticize it and have their way on the opinion forums, but oh well, that’s bound to happen with an epic movie, let alone a less-than-stellar feature. 

credit: Moonfall

Of course, it had a sentimental note in the movie that maintains humanity and the reason to fight for something.

This is one of the more important parts of a disaster movie after all, since without the human element, the need to fight for something, it doesn’t appear that there would be any hope or reason for fighting against the inevitable. But the interesting thing about any and all of these movies is that the sentimental note can get insanely cheesy or be almost completely absent. There’s such a tenuous balance that tipping it too much one way or another is bound to affect the story, but the upside of this is that the movie will either cater to those who like the sappy moments or those who are glad to note their absence. Moonfall does have the human feel it needs, but it also feels as though it goes a little too far in some areas and not far enough in others. Maybe there’s a balance there, but it does feel as though it becomes a part of the overall ‘blah’ that this movie becomes all on its own. 

Disaster movies have had their time, but they will probably come again. 

Every genre has its time and place, and disaster movies are no different. It’s true that this feature might have been just as much science fiction as a disaster, but the fact that it was so predictable and was trying too hard came through in a big way. If not for the emergence of the idea that bigger is better, it’s easy to think that this movie might have been a little easier to get into. As it stands, though, Moonfall was kind of ‘meh’ from the get-go. 

In truth, it almost felt like a combination of Deep Impact, The Core, and various movies about killer AI.