Directed by: Roland Emmerich
Starring: Halle Berry, Patrick Wilson, John Bradley, Charlie Plummer, Michael Pena, Donald Sutherland, Eme Ikwuakor
Moonfall is Independence Day meets The Day After Tomorrow. This only proves Roland Emmerich, the modern-day Irwin Allen, is doubling back on himself. Moonfall is the latest Emmerich movie in which the world is in imminent danger of perishing. This time it's because the moon is out of orbit, albeit not by natural forces. Cut to conspiracy theorist K.C. Houseman (Bradley), who believes the moon isn't a moon at all, but a "megastructure" built by aliens which is actually hollow. Like a broken clock, Houseman is discovered to be correct.
The moon being out of orbit will cause the moon to crash into the Earth, but before that, pieces of the celestial body will crumble due to Earth's gravity and fall to Earth. This is one of many times the movie stops dead in its tracks to explain its plot developments. By the time our heroes fly a mission to the moon to take out the evil alien force which built it, I was long past caring.
The alien force is a swarm of goo first encountered by astronauts Brian Harper (Wilson) and Jo Fowler (Berry) on a space satellite repair mission which resulted in the death of their colleague. Since Jo was knocked out after being bumped around inside the spacecraft, Brian is left to explain that this giant caviar-looking swath is responsible for his friend's death. Harper is publicly shamed and fired by NASA, only to be begged by Jo years later to fly with her to save the planet.
Harper has Fallen On Hard Times and has a teenage son recently arrested for stealing a car. All of this flies out the window when word that the moon's shifted orbit will bring about Doomsday in roughly three weeks. Pieces of the moon crash land onto the planet's surface with surprisingly cheesy visual effects. It is amazing electrical grids last long enough for CNN and other television outlets provide updates. Unlike the recent Don't Look Up, the people of the Earth listen and seek higher ground including Brian's son, Sonny (Plummer). Sonny's misadventures in the Rocky Mountains are their own subplot which is equally as dull as the main plot.
In Moonfall, it appears other nations of the world do not have their own equivalent of NASA, but I know for a fact Russians and Chinese have sent people into space. But no, only three Americans, including a chubby nerd with no space experience, are the ones tasked for saving the world. All the eggs are thrown into that basket. Maybe there was an explanation for this and I just zoned out, which I'm sure happened more often than not in Moonfall.
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