Moonfall Movie Review

Roland Emmerich has made a name for himself as one of Hollywood's biggest filmmakers. He has helmed some massive films and has been coined the king of the disaster genre with films like: 'Godzilla (1998)', 'Independence Day', 'Stargate', 'The Day After Tomorrow', '10, 000 BC', '2012' and most recently 'Moonfall'. 'Moonfall' is Emmerich returning to the disaster genre, after making smaller films, 'Whitehouse Down', 'Anonymous', 'Stonewall' and 'Midway' recently. The film sees a force push the moon off its orbit, sending it on a collision course to earth, it is up to our band of heroes played by Patrick Wilson, Halle Berry and John Bradley to stop this disaster from occurring. Filled with dazzling visuals and all the destruction you could ask for, I actually had a fun time with Moonfall.

Emmerich utilises his massive $150 million budget here, wisely, spending a lot of it with the visual effects. A hallmark of a Rolland Emmerich film is the level of destruction, seeing buildings and even whole cities or in the case of 2012, the entire world destroyed. Moonfall follows this trend, providing great levels of destruction here. We see floods tear through cities, cities fall and a lot of explosions. It's actually a lot of fun and something I feel has been missing from many big blockbusters in recent years. The level of destruction is absurd, but also a hell of a lot of fun to watch unfold.

Another Emmerich trope is the plethora of side characters. This film is no exception, we have plenty of sub-plots going on here, but each of them carry emotional weight to the film, which I think is greatly important, especially when we head into the third act where the stakes are heightened, and we need motivation from our trio of heroes up in space. The performances here are all a lot of fun, with Patrick Wilson leading the way as disgraced astronaut Brian Harper. He's estranged from his son and is struggling to stay afloat, amidst the disaster (no pun intended). Wilson is a lot of fun here, he knows exactly the type of film he's in and embraces the weird and goofy. I really loved seeing him in the lead role. Halle Berry is a lot of fun here as well. Recently appearing in serious dramas and thrillers, it is fun to see her in an over-the-top disaster, action flick on the big-screen. John Bradley is great as well, as the neurotic KC Houseman.

All in all, I had a great time with Moonfall. It is by no means a masterpiece, but the film knows exactly what it is and embraces the silliness. If you are a fan of Rolland Emmerich's other disaster epics, then you will have an absolute blast with this one. I would highly recommend it to genre fans and the casual moviegoer just looking for a fun time. Head to your local Sanity or online to pick-up a copy of Moonfall on DVD or Blu-ray today. You won't want to miss this one! 

Buy Moonfall on DVD or Blu-ray here!

Christopher Pattison wrote this blog post for Sanity. See more from Chris here