MOONFALL... Directed by: Roland Emmerich - a Joe Viglione Film Review
For those who enjoy extreme drama and outer space, Moonfall will fit the bill with some captivating moments that outweigh the excesses.
This generation probably has no idea of the mega disaster films from
Irwin Allen, the "Master of Disaster" of the big screen
blow-everything-up genre some decades back. His name ever present in the 1960s for Land of the
Giants, Time Tunnel, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea and Lost in Space
maybe gave a hint that Allen would graduate to making fortunes on small
budgets. According to Wikipedia his The Poseidon Adventure made 125
mill in 1972 on a less than five million dollar budget; the follow-up,
1974's The Towering Inferno made $203.3 at a fourteen million dollar
cost. These are huge numbers for the time (early 70s) without the
massive worldwide returns on investment found today.
Roland Emmerich has his formula, directly from the way that was
paved by past gloom and doom visionaries, if we can call them that. For
the vision is destruction.
Moonfall could be called an amazing film of sorts. It's the new
master, Emmerich, sweetening his formula with stunning visual effects
and wonderful cinematography. The ever present problem, which
simultaneously makes tons of cash but weakens the artistic value, is
that same old formula getting in the way of the "important art."
The flaws from blockbuster Independence Day are transferred to
Moonfall, while the pluses are enhanced and made all the more thrilling,
until they go over the top.
Rather than restrain himself, which
Emmerich is more than capable of doing, he always throws everything but
the kitchen sink in your face, the difference between "subtle" Norman
Bates as Alfred Hitchcock's terrifying slasher psycho, and the harsh
blood 'n' guts of Friday the 13th, Saw, Nightmare on Elm Street: gore
for gore's sake.
And unlike Irwin Allen's blockbusters chock full of A-list celebrity,
Roland the E is a big tease with some star power, but not the bundle
Irwin would drop on the unsuspecting world, star power that brought home
the results. Outside of Game of Thrones does anyone know who chubby
John Bradley is? (the obligatory Harvey Fierstein-type character that
was from Independence Day. Not overtly gay (this time,) but a pure
mama's boy) while 86 years young Donald Sutherland is grossly underused,
to the film's detriment. Indeed, Sutherland's presence is downright
morbid when his unique insight in these fictional situations always
proves of value.
Patrick Wilson - now pushing 50, but still looking good - has always
been likeable and despite all his work and vast industry wealth,
Moonfall, with an ending that suggests a sequel, could put him onto that
next level. Given that it was a stormy night on February 3, 2022 when
this film opened at 6 PM at the AMC in Burlington and I only counted
nine individuals, two of them women (guys go for the sci-fi,) hope
that's not a harbinger of ticket sales to come as this film does deserve
a good shot.
It's been six years since Independence Day: Resurgence (2016) which
cost 165 million (Irwin Allen must be spinning,) and brought in "only"
about three hundred and ninety million. Hardly impressive when the
original 1996 Independence Day did over 817 mill on a 75 million dollar
budget.
The intriguing thing about I.D. Resurgence is that Emmerich used
more color, a more intriguing story line (for a sequel, especially) and
better acting. It was once again the hokey script with mawkishly
sentimental poorly timed scenes that get in the way of the character
development. Indeed, the director actually uses the contrived moments
to probably bring in the dollars, playing to the current audiences that
would have adored TV's Lost in Space had they been born in the sixties.
For a purist, it can drive you crazy. ID Resurgence AND Moonfall are
closer to serious sci fi than previous efforts - 1998's horrible
Godzilla with Matthew Broderick, one case in point.
This time the current era's "Master of Disaster," goes beyond his
own worlds to draw from Terminator Genisys for the A.I. villain. Can
James Cameron sue? Probably not as the A.I. here is similar also to the
creepy thing from the otherwise excellent Lucy from 2014 (with Scarlett
Johansson.) The Emperor's planet-killing space station from most of
the Star Wars film makes its way to planet Earth in this, however it is
the diving into the moon and the meteors hitting our home world that are
what make this film somewhat great.
The slow intro to this
motion picture, reminiscent of 1950's sci fi where kids were bored until
the action kicked in is brought back to haunt moviegoers. Such maudlin situations for Wilson's character,
Brian Harper, while science fiction specialist Halle Berre (Catwoman, X
Men, 007, etc) is good enough. Her star power letting her take a break
from having to actually perform in this. Berre is good, of course, because
she's a sterling actress, and perhaps the lack of a superlative script
has the entire group acting as if they are in a play at a comic book
convention.
Tighten up the intro, focus on the razzle dazzle of the Star Wars in
and around the moon (it gets too close to planet Earth for your
suspension of belief to kick in,) Moonfall comes close. It just could
have been a lot closer.
#JoeViglioneMedia review
Genre: Sci-FiMOONFALLOfficial Site: https://moonfall.movie/
Facebook: @MoonfallFilm
Twitter: @MoonfallFilm
Instagram: @MoonfallFilm
Hashtag: #Moonfall
Rating: PG-13 for violence, disaster action, strong language, and
some drug use
U.S. Release Date: February 4, 2022
Running time: 124 min
Cast: Halle Berry, Patrick Wilson, John Bradley, Michael Peña,
Charlie Plummer, Kelly Yu, Eme Ikwuakor, Carolina Bartczak, and
Donald Sutherland
Directed by: Roland Emmerich
Written by: Roland Emmerich & Harald Kloser & Spenser Cohen
Produced by: Harald Kloser, p.g.a., Roland Emmerich, p.g.a.
