I Watch Films: Moonfall

Moonfall

In 2011 there was an accident in orbit, when something struck a shuttle. One astronaut is killed and Jo Fowler (Halle Berry) is knocked unconscious so the only one who saw it was a swarm of alien technology is Brian Harper (Patrick Wilson). NASA refuse to accept this explanation and he’s fired in disgrace, and (as we learn later) is divorced by his wife, leading his son to become a delinquent.

Ten years later K C Houseman (John Bradley), a conspiracy theorist who believes the moon is a megastructure, cons a research telescope into taking readings and discovers that the moon is out of its orbit. He can’t get NASA to listen so in desperation tries to track down Harper. There’s a comedy of errors as Houseman, mistaken for the delayed Harper, gives a talk to kids about how the moon is hollow.

Anyway, SPOILERS the moon is in fact a megastructure, NASA covered up the alien swarm, the moon is coming closer and will destroy the earth. Houseman releases the data NASA is trying to keep quiet (Fowler is deputy director, gets a field promotion to director when the director, a political placeman, gives up when the swarm destroys the rocket they send to take a look at the moon). There’s panic.

The military want to nuke the moon. Good for them, the moon has had it good for too long. However with the new orbit it will rain nuclear debris on the earth, almost as bad as the moon coming down and destroying everything. Inevitably Houseman, Harper and Fowler find themselves on the last rocket with the last possible way to stop this. Also, this being a Roland Emmerich disaster film, we get to see their family members trying to survive the disaster, with more and more unlikely perils (floods, oxygen being sucked away, no gravity) engulfing them.

I mean did you like Independence Day? The Day After Tomorrow? 2012? Because in both good and bad ways it’s those again. I’d say it’s a bit more outrageous than any of those, but… no. No it isn’t not really.

Watch This: Huge disaster, enormous setpieces, wild plotting and backstory
Don’t Watch This: It’s attempts to justify each new, more stupid event make them even stupider and frankly the family members trying to survive b-plot is poorly integrated