Cinemas’ most recent and notable release, Moonfall is out, and here is what I think of it.
This is a more fun discussion rather than a critical review. We know the film isn’t great, but it’s fun to talk about the fun elements of the film.
Roland Emmerich takes a huge but rather tame swing at one of the year’s most disastrous film plots that never quite lands. Patrick Wilson is an upcoming star whose experience has been dominated by The Conjuring films, but this time he is written to hold the screen and become the leader in a trio whose chemistry never surpasses or matches the dynamic nature of the wolfpack.
You don’t remember who their characters were but at least you can recognize their faces. Whereas his forgettable Independence day sequel had a cast of mainly no names and that film bombed harder than the initial white house explosion in the original.
With every Roland Emmerich film released, you have to go into it with the right mindset and expectation. Emmerich has a funny way of getting you to completely suspend all forms of science before seeing one of his films and there is a charm in that, a form of self-aware cinema that I really like.
Although he places a lot of emphasis on the research he did when making the film to get it as accurate as possible and I am still confused by some of its plot progressions. For a film like this, you need charisma or you need to make it serious and make the drama land, the film achieves none of these. The drama is simply accelerated into space with no real effect.
The other problem is that the science element is stuck in a plot that evolves to become as generic as most of his films or films in a similar field. It’s a film that we all have seen before and it never attempts to break any new ground considering its genre.
In that sense, it really is stuck as it can’t escape the box it’s in. White House Down has a more balanced blend of comedy, action, and drama and could have a lot more fun with its simple precise. Moonfall, to some positive effect, has a more complicated narrative.
However, the biggest financial problem with Moonfall is that it doesn’t have a direct audience. This isn’t a true Emmerich film. Tonally, the film is all over the place. It’s not funny enough to be an action-comedy like White House Down, its drama isn’t serious enough for it to be emotionally compelling like Interstellar, so now you are left with a hollow film with only the action spectacle and actors to see it through.
This seems like a risky investment considering the hefty finance Roland pumped in. Its budget is 140 million and its box office has earned just 10 million in its opening, it’s scheduled to be a financial disaster.
The film has good actors but the casting seems a bit off considering the tone. Patrick Wilson hasn’t quite established himself as an action-leading man and Halle Berry has a more Oscar-worthy background, the third addition is John Bradley who most have never heard of, other than his role in The Brothers Grimsby (2016). Others include Michael Pena who is wasted and Charlie Plummer. Halle Berry is the best actress in the film by a long shot.
If you are going to do a film this big, you have to deliver on all elements, including the visuals, genre, tone, and more. Marc kermode recently pointed out that the film is the most ridiculous film ever made, this is some statement considering releases like White House Down, Independence Day series, Godzilla, 2012, and more.
I think the film’s greatest strengths lie in its tension. The film loses track I think with its humor, at least there is a sense of drama and stake when some of the more intense and weighty scenes are taking place. Especially towards the end, which I cannot spoil, but it was a little unpredictable to be fair to the film crew.
The biggest obstacle Moonfall faces is making its money back of a huge budget. When the film gets a little darker, it works a lot better compared to its uninteresting and dull plot exposition scenes where we have characters literally explain the plot, as if they are reading information of the backend of a piece of paper behind the camera.
Moonfall reminded me to some extent of the science fiction called Life in 2017 with Ryan Reynolds. A film that didn’t break any ground in the science fiction genre.
The most impressive element that Roland Emmerich could achieve is making a trilogy out of this film, that would be a career-high and if he does, fair play to him for getting the most out of on paper, a nothing and bland precise. Let’s see what’s in store for Moonfall, in terms of financial success and audience interest.
I think a sequel will be better, considering the first film is the hardest to make. It has to establish the world and the law, but more importantly, audiences need to like it. That, we will see.
Roland Emmerich has only made one film series with Independence Day, but he has expressed real interest to make more Moonfall films, which is ironic considering he doesn’t like the nature of sequels. He has expressed this in interviews regarding the independence day sequels.
As of yet, the film has received terrible reviews including a shocking 39% rating on rotten tomatoes and a 5.3 rating on IMDB. Although Collider saw Moonfall as his second-best film right behind Independence Day, you can read the article here.
However, should you see the film? I recommend waiting for it to stream when it comes out of the cinema. I don’t suspect this will be showing for a long time, even die-hard Emmerich fans could get a better product.
Have you seen Moonfall?
Author Bio
Sam is a content writer. He loves all elements connected with film and writes with passion, always. You can find him on Linkedin, where you will be able to read more articles. When he is not writing, you can find him practicing football
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