MOVIE REVIEW: Moonfall is bad – the wrong kind of bad

Moonfall is bad – the wrong kind of bad – because everything in this formula fails to hold up its end of the bargain. The only thing Moonfall delivers on is the big ideas, but by the time the movie begins to layer in the sci-fi absurdity, the film is already three-quarters of the way home.

For the curious: In Moonfall, disgraced astronaut Brian Harper (Wilson) is called back into service when scientists discover the moon is falling out of orbit. With the help of conspiracy theorist K.C. Houseman (Bradley) and Harper’s estranged crewmate Jocinda Fowler (Halle Berry), Harper must overcome global annihilation to defend the moon from the malevolent force that may be trying to destroy it.

The opening scene is promising enough, with Jo Fowler and Bryan Harper on an outer space mission, where they find themselves attacked by a malevolent extraterrestrial force. It’s a fun way to introduce us to Emmerich’s latest insanely high concept adventure, and the conspiracy element is immediately put in play by the government denying all knowledge of any such entity, leaving Harper as washed-up, broke, and a disgrace to NASA.

Unfortunately, Moonfall then grinds to an excruciating halt for the next half an hour, spending far too much time exploring and explaining the backstories of multiple supporting characters you absolutely will not care about in the slightest. Fowler and Harper are both divorcees, with the former’s ex-husband a high-ranking military official in his own right, while the latter’s wayward teenage son ends up in jail, pitting Harper against Michael Peña’s wealthy stepdad in a battle for the youngster’s affections.

Don’t get me wrong, when Moonfall works, it works because of Wilson and Bradley. Wilson remains Hollywood’s most underrated leading man, an A-list talent who routinely elevates ridiculous material with the right balance of sincerity and humor. Meanwhile, Bradley – always sympathetic onscreen – manages to turn a joke character into perhaps the most well-rounded piece of the entire film. It’s no small thing to make a conspiracy theorist endearing in 2022, but Bradley makes an excellent case for life after Game of Thrones. When these two actors are together, Moonfall sparkles a little.

Visually, Moonfall is often very nice to look at, and Emmerich certainly hasn’t lost his penchant for framing the spectacular, but it’s hard to imagine even his most ardent fans falling in love with his latest feature in a capacity that isn’t ironic. It’s been described as about five different disaster movies rolled into one and that’s very accurate. There’s one movie going on in space and about four others happening back on earth. Between the floods, water tornados, car chases and ordinary people bouncing around earth like they’re on the actual moon it’s hard to believe all of this madness is crammed into one movie.

Roland Emmerich has directed some great disaster popcorn movies before such as The Day After Tomorrow, 2012, and Independence Day. Unfortunately for this movie it simply doesn't land close to any of these. When you walk into Moonfall you will want to probably stand up and leave for the first hour... yes the character buildup and story was that bad.

This ending to the movie ironically saves this disaster film from being a disaster of a film. Definitely not the worst movie I’ve ever seen but not something I was thrilled to watch nor something I will ever watch again. Easily a 4/10