A new disaster movie came out this weekend, and the previews made it look like it would be a trash fire, which can be fun to see, but this was not garbage! I was pleasantly surprised by how okay this film was. It had some real highs, but the lows really brought it down. The visuals were much better than expected, and it was quite the unique story. It was also very similar to Don’t Look Up, but the cast did of Moonfall had B and C list actors, compared to the A list that participated in Don’t Look Up.
Moonfall starts in space with three astronauts working on a satellite. Two out space walking, and one in the ship giving directions, when a massive cloud of space dust machinery takes them out and causes the ship to malfunction. One of the comrades is lost, but Jo and Brian survive. Brian gets blamed for the malfunction and is discharged from NASA and no one believes his story about what happened. Years later a pseudo scientist, KC, who has been researching the moon’s position, find out that the moon is moving closer to Earth and will soon crash into it, but no one believes him. So he reaches out to Brian, and they team up, and eventually Jo gets on their side as they tell the world the problem. The world descends into chaos and looting as the scientists and government try to bake up a plan. They attempt a few ways to fix it, but fail due to the machine dust alien, so Jo, KC, and Brian must go up there to save everyone. While up there they must confront the alien machinery, and they find out some strange things about where humans came from, and how the moon was made. It gets real weird. Then there is a big chase to see if they can save the Earth before the moon crashes into it.
The story starts out strong, and despite the commercials, the CGI actually holds up pretty well, and there is a ton of it. Even once they move inside the moon and are having to create some elaborate technological stuff, they do a good job, the story after that point, gets way too complex and stretches the imagination too far. It is one thing, if aliens attack the moon, it is a whole other thing if there is a baby star inside the moon that came from a human race far away to hide from space aliens. I do give them credit for creating a new story that I had never heard of before, but I would not be surprised if you could find it on the conspiracy section of YouTube.
The real bad parts of the movies came from when the families were involved. They went way too over the top with the cheese, and the younger actors they had were not that great. The worst performance by far came from Brian's son, Sonny, which even the name is too on the nose for a space movie. He was terrible. Every time he spoke it just felt like it did not belong, and that he was forcing it way too hard. The family aspect felt forced and was largely unnecessary. There was some reconciliation and watching out for one another, but it was not strong enough to be kept in the movie. It was so unimportant, that none of it was even in my summary of the movie. Also Michael Pena, a good comedic actor, gave a bad step dad performance. When I saw him pop onto the screen, I got excited for his comedic relief, but he did not provide it at all.
This movie was similar in message to Don't Look Up. One disadvantage Moonfall had was Don't Look Up had a super star cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, and Meryl Streep, and Moonfall although not bad, simply does not compare. Patrick Wilson does have a resume I would want to have, a priest that performs exorcisms and an astronaut that saves the world. Halle Berry also has a nice resume, but she does not have the reputation of those previously mentioned, and John Bradley had a large role on Game of Thrones, but he was not a part of the centerpiece. Both films are about an impending disaster, but in Don't Look Up, the citizens never really believe that the comet was going to hit Earth due to inaccurate media coverage, until it was too late. Both films do rag on the government for their inability to take real action, or for trying to take the easy way out. Don't Look Up has more of a negative capitalistic view attached to it due to the drones attempting to save the day over a real solution. Amazingly I did like Moonfall more, Don't Look Up was way too over the top, and although it was unintentional, it took away from the film.
Overall, this was a good movie, and it was worth seeing it in IMAX. The space spectacles looked much better on the larger screen. What really helped make this movie great was the small absurdities. The cat was named Fuzz Aldrin. They had a newspaper on the wall of KC's house that read “Gay Aliens Found in UFO Wreck.” KC was a mega structurist scientist. They also used the carpet pattern from The Shining, that people used as a point to argue that moon landing was fake in the documentary Room 237, in the hotel as wallpaper, and when KC was making his very serious video about the moon moving closer to Earth he finished with adding that the meeting he was hosting would have free bagels. It is all ridiculous, but the little details help to make it more fun and worthwhile. Go see it! I give it 3 stars.
Other Movie This Week:
Jackass Forever: This film was wild and gross from the very beginning. I had seen some of the previous movies on tv briefly, but I had never watched a whole one. Some of the stunts are quite shocking, and you cannot help but wanting to gag, and even the cameramen were gagging at some of the stuff. Nonetheless, it was an incredibly funny movie. If the point of movies is to make people feel things, then this film does an excellent job. The new faces that were added to the crew did a great job, and there was such a strong sense of comradery, one cannot help but be jealous that they are getting paid quite a bit to hang out and do stupid things with their best friends. It was also great to be in a theater filled with people who were also excited to see the stupidity, and to laugh and enjoy the absurdity with them. A big question is, will the Jackass franchise continue with these new faces, or will it burn out with the aging of the originals aging out?
New Movie Rankings:
Moonfall: 3 Stars
Jackass Forever: 3 Stars
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