Moonfall parents guide

Moonfall Parent Guide

Just bad or so bad it's good? It's up to audiences to decide.

Overall B-

In Theaters: When the moon is knocked out of orbit into a collision course with Earth, an astronaut teams up with her former colleague and a conspiracy theorist for a last-ditch mission to save the world.

Release date February 4, 2022

Violence C
Sexual Content A
Profanity D+
Substance Use C

Why is Moonfall rated PG-13? The MPAA rated Moonfall PG-13 Violence, disaster action, strong language, and some drug use.

Run Time: 120 minutes

Parent Movie Review

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 Fosters 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.

Directed by Roland Emmerich. Starring Halle Berry, Patrick Wilson, John Bradley. Running time: 120 minutes. Theatrical release February 4, 2022. Updated

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Moonfall
Rating & Content Info

Why is Moonfall rated PG-13? Moonfall is rated PG-13 by the MPAA Violence, disaster action, strong language, and some drug use.

Violence: Fatal accidents and injuries occur in space involving a storm of shrapnel that attacks by swarming or forming itself into columns and tentacles. A shift in the moon’s orbit causes natural disasters like tidal waves, earthquakes, eruptions, meteor showers and explosions. It also threatens to annihilate all of mankind. Massive property damage occurs, people are in peril, and some (presumably) are injured or killed. Panicked people riot, loot and threaten each other with guns. Armed robbery, gun fights and car chases are depicted. The use of bombs, nuclear weapons and suicide mission are discussed and shown. It is implied a character is contemplating suicide. People are in danger of drowning and suffocation. A teen character drives recklessly and is arrested for impaired driving. Other characters lie, steal, break-and-enter and impersonate others. Conspiracy theories and intentional cover-ups are portrayed. Characters are treated unjustly.
Sexual Content: Characters embrace affectionately. Broken marriages are depicted.
Profanity: A strong sexual expletive is heard once and seen as graffiti twice. There is frequent use of scatological slang, mild profanities, and terms of deity. The script features infrequent use of moderate profanity and name-calling.
Alcohol / Drug Use: A character is seen drinking beer. Another is shown smoking a joint. A third takes prescription medicine like the capsules were breath mints. Mentions are made of illegal drug use, substance abuse and driving under the influence.
Other: There are scenes of flashing images which might affect viewers with seizure or migraine disorders.

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Moonfall Parents' Guide

In this movie, all the characters are faced with the threat of death – yet each responds differently. Why are some self-sacrificing, while others prioritize saving themselves or their families? How heroic do you think you would be in a life-or-death situation? What things are important enough to you that you would you be willing to risk your life to save them?

This script seems to copy ideas from many past science fiction and disaster movies. Which ones feel familiar to you? What films do they remind you of?

Home Video

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Roland Emmerich (writer/director/producer) also had a creative hand in Independence Day, The Day After Tomorrow and Godzilla. Humankind is in danger of annihilation in the sci-fi film Deep Impact. The Earth is on a collision course in the movieDon’t Look Uptoo, only in this comedic telling irony is used to spoof many societal and political issues. Learn about real NASA missions in the film In the Shadow of the Moon.