I don’t know if this is a hot take or not, but Roland Emmerich feels like the last of a dying breed of blockbuster filmmakers who are able to deliver well-staged spectacle with a genuine point-of-view and recognizable quirks. Which makes it ironic considering the backlash he’s gotten recently because he dared to say that the Marvel/Disney/Star Wars machine is making it hard for non-IP projects to get attention from the powers that be. Because whether you like them or not, his run of big budget, sci-fi crowd-pleasers from the early 90s to the early 2000s are a big part of the blueprint that led to the style of comic books movies that run supreme today.
His more recent stuff might not be his best, but his latest film, Moonfall, feels like a return to form, in a manner of speaking. It follows Brian Harper (Patrick Wilson), a disgraced former astronaut who crosses paths with K.C. (John Bradley), a conspiracy theorist who is trying to get the attention of NASA. His ideas might explain why the moon seems to be going off orbit, and Brian’s former colleague, Jo (Halle Berry), is the only one who might give Brian a chance at redemption and validation.
So, yes, as you might guess, the title is about as literal as you could get, the moon is heading closer to Earth, which is certainly a ridiculous notion. However, Emmerich and his co-writers, Spenser Cohen and composer Harald Kloser, decided the conceit needed a little extra spice. So, not only is the moon heading to Earth, but the moon itself is actually a “megastructure,” and some kind of force coming from the moon attacks anyone coming near it. Admittedly, the film asks you to swallow a lot, and I totally understand anyone who can’t, but it was something I was willing to roll with.
What helps is that, like a lot of his disaster movies, Emmerich does a good job at balancing a very specific tone. The film clearly isn’t taking itself very seriously, with characters throwing quips and proclamations of how ridiculous the situation is, but the stakes and the overall approach with the storytelling is done in earnest. It doesn’t go out of its way to wink to the audience. The characters themselves don’t feel like a joke; they’re not in on the joke. Emmerich gives attention to these characters, and the struggles they each face aside from the big global catastrophe.
For example, Brian wants to be a better man for his family, particularly his son, Sonny (Charlie Plummer) after his fall from grace put him in dire straits. John wants to make something of himself, after years of being treated like a nobody. And Jo wants to make up for not having Brian’s back in regards to his testimony when they first encountered the moon monster a decade ago, which NASA covered up. The human element is basic, sure, but it grounds all the ridiculousness and spectacle into something that we can connect to, these aren’t special people with special skills, they’re just regular people trying their best, and that’s something I always found endearing in these kinds of movies.
The spectacle itself is really solid. I think it’s odd when people criticize these movies for an over-reliance on CGI when they not only set out to create imagery that would be near impossible to do practically, but also stage them in a way that feels like there was thought put into them, it doesn’t feel like it’s been pre-vized to death, there’s elegance and awe to be had. And on top of all that, the VFX are genuinely really good, and there’s a decent mix of sets and green screen work that come together fairly seamlessly.
The film that came to mind, for fairly obvious reasons, as I watched this was The Wandering Earth, the 2019 Chinese film about Earth being on a collision course with Jupiter. I didn’t love Moonfall as much as The Wandering Earth, but I still had a really fun time with it, and the two would make for a pretty wild and wonderful double feature. I was really charmed by Moonfall, not just by the straight-faced commitment to some really silly and ludicrous ideas, but also by the characters. It helps you got actors who know how to elevate this kind of material. Between something like this, The Conjuring movies, and Aquaman, Patrick Wilson is the king of taking wacky material and tackling it with the same commitment that he’d give to a traditional dramatic performances. We really don’t appreciate him enough. The result of all these elements is truly a joy. I mean, if a movie with scenes of the moon peeking over the horizon like a slasher villain jumping out of a corner, and exchanges like Brian saying “I got my own problems to deal with,” and Jo responding, “And pieces of the moon falling on Earth isn’t one of them?!?” doesn’t put a smile on your face, I don’t what else to tell ya, this just isn’t gonna be for you. As for me, this was Roland Emmerich going full ham, and I had a blast.
Moonfall is now out in theaters.