Moonfall Parent Guide

Roland Emmerich has had a hand in some of the biggest budget alien/monster invasions to hit the big screen. Still, even if you rolled the campiness of Independence Day, The Day After Tomorrow and Godzilla into one big, giant satellite of nonsense you wouldn’t come close to what Moonfall delivers.

What’s it about? The moon is headed toward Earth and if humans can’t figure out a way to put it back in orbit where it belongs, everyone is going to die, the world will be destroyed, and cell phones will be kaput. Our only hope is a washed-up astronaut (Patrick Wilson), the ex-crewmate who abandoned him after he claimed to be attacked by aliens (Halle Berry), and a conspiracy theorist who is trying to tell the world the moon is falling (John Bradley).

Considering seven billion people are on the verge of their demise, there is little up-close-and-personal violence. An alien force that swarms, rams, or wraps victims in tentacles inflicts some bloodless injuries and fatal blows. Some people are caught in natural disasters, like tidal waves and earthquakes. Adding to the action are brief gun fights, car chases and a lot of people pushing and shoving. Although profanities are almost as frequent as the flying meteors depicted on screen, the language is most often mild or scatological, except for a couple of sexual expletives (heard and seen in graffiti). Happily, there’s no time for sexual scenarios in this this world-ender – but there are enough minutes to show a character smoking a joint.

Reminiscent of the most infamous 1970s disaster movies, this flick dishes out a legion of heroic and nasty characters ready to face a screenwriter’s arbitrary death sentence. But before they die, they are fed a steady diet of helpful lines in case plot impaired audience members require reminders of key facts like, “They’re shooting at us!”.

If you get distracted laughing at the goofy dialogue, you may be caught off guard when the script pivots into a serious moment. But even then, it only serves up sci-fi leftovers. For instance, our protagonist (Wilson) and his buddy (Bradley) get stuck on opposite sides of spaceship glass in a very Captain Kirk/Spock-like scene. And if you have seen Jodie Foster’s Contact you won’t be surprised at where this exchange of clichés eventually leads.

Moonfall’s ultimate destination may have you wondering if this flawed, overwrought, special-effects laden behemoth of a movie is a total waste of time. On the other hand, you may just have just sat through a majestic work of frolicking fantasy that is so bad that it has subtly turned the corner toward becoming a cult classic craved by generations yet to come.

About author

Rod Gustafson

Rod Gustafson has worked in various media industries since 1977. He founded Parent Previews in 1993, and today continues to write and broadcast the reviews in newspapers, on radio and (of course) on the Internet. His efforts also include writing and researching media in all its forms and observing how it effects society and culture. He and his wife Donna have four children.