Moonfall: A Jumbled Mess of a Movie

If someone wants to see mass destruction at the hands of some vaguely scientific and/or natural disaster, Roland Emmerich is the director they should seek out. The science may not check out, the dialogue may be clunky and overly expository, but there is something beautiful about the way that he destroys national landmarks. Moonfall departs from this entirely by being mostly a space-faring science fiction movie with a small amount of destruction.

Like a few movies in recent history, Moonfall seems like two different movies spliced into one. This one feels like the third act conflict featuring AI, aliens, Dyson Spheres, and memory constructs comes from the indefinitely postponed Independence Day 3 and the rest of the movie was shaped around that idea to make it into something that vaguely resembles a narrative feature. Because of that the third act is surprisingly sound and entertaining and in sharp contrast to the first half of the movie. There are climactic beats that echo key moments from Independence Day that would fit in a trilogy culmination but in the confines of this movie it does not fit comfortably. John Bradley’s role feels like the role that Brett Spinner would have played in the movie, especially when his final fate is revealed.

The first half of the movie is a convoluted mess designed to not make characters feel like people but to define their role and general relationships for the audiences. Characters are defined by their career and relationships to each other. Not even the protagonists are given needs and wants beyond those the plot demands. The movie is concerned to a fault with making sure that all the puzzle pieces are in place to simulate what approximates emotional resonance for third act moments, but these end up falling flat considering how big the cast is and how many moving parts are in play.

The acting leaves a lot to be desired. Both Patrick Wilson and Halle Berry are excellent as actors but leave a lot on the table. Donald Sutherland is criminally underutilized and Eme Ikwuakor emerges as a frontrunner for a Razzie award with the worst performance of this movie. Even Michael Peña who can usually be counted on for an entertaining performance manages to fall flat.

If one wants to see interesting science fiction designs and is willing to sit through a literal hour and forty minutes of poorly edited nonsense, then they should go out and see Moonfall. Beyond that, the movie is worth waiting to see until it’s on HBOMax or Amazon Prime. It will eventually end up on TNT at 3 p.m. on a Saturday, so maybe just wait until then.

Final Rating: 5/10