Today’s quick review: Moonfall. Ten years after a catastrophic brush with alien technology ruined his career as an astronaut, Brian Harper (Patrick Wilson) gets called back to work when the same technology pushes the Moon out of orbit. While Jocinda Fowler (Halle Berry), Brian’s former partner, coordinates NASA’s response to the threat, Brian teams up with Dr. KC Houseman (John Bradley), a crank scientist, to uncover the Moon’s secrets.
Moonfall is a sci-fi disaster movie about the Moon falling out of its orbit on a collision course with Earth. Left with just weeks until the Earth is destroyed, NASA launches a desperate mission to investigate the cause of the disaster and correct the Moon’s orbit. Moonfall is an ambitious film that aims high with its plot and spectacle. However, uneven execution and some strange ideas make it an unruly, hit-or-miss popcorn flick.
Moonfall never really figures out what kind of sci-fi movie it wants to be. The movie opens with the kind of grounded sci-fi seen in Interstellar or The Martian, evolves into a disaster scenario as the Moon hurtles towards the Earth, then kicks logic to the curb as it heads into the climax. From there, the movie piles on as many outlandish ideas as it can get away with, resulting in a final act that is crammed with ridiculous spectacle.
The unevenness extends to the characters as well. None of the main trio are particularly likable, and the movie’s token efforts to get to know their families are not enough to give it a strong emotional core. But at the same time, Moonfall manages to avoid any real missteps. Brian, Jocinda, and KC are competent enough to keep the plot moving, and by the time their deficiencies would catch up with them, the movie has moved on to bigger things.
The end result is a wild ride of a movie that hits exhilarating highs and sanity-taxing lows, often in rapid succession. Audiences who want sensible speculation, a consistent tone, or genuine pathos will find the movie messy and half-baked. But anyone who’s interested in schlocky science fiction packed with bizarre ideas and raw spectacle should give Moonfall a shot.
For a sci-fi movie with some of the same appeal but more even execution, try Independence Day. For a disaster movie with a similar attitude, try Armageddon or The Core. For spacefaring science fiction with more careful speculation, try Interstellar or Ad Astra.
[5.2 out of 10 on IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5834426/). I give it a 6.5 to 7.0 for fun, schlocky sci-fi that doesn’t know when to quit.