As the title implies, “Moonfall” (2022) is a sci-fi genre film that tells the story of what if the moon will eventually fall to earth. A film directed by Rolland Emmerich which has traces of similar disaster film genre films, such as “2012” (2009), and “Independence Day” (1996).
“Moonfall” invites us to get ready to see the fall of the moon towards the earth through the dangerous missions of astronauts who go to the moon. This 130-minute film presents the puzzle of a mysterious force that will cause the moon to come out of orbit. This situation will have an impact on human life and all inhabitants of the earth who may experience destruction.
Problems predicting the fall of the moon to earth, make some people have to carry out dangerous missions to come directly to the moon to find out what will happen. Jo Fowler (Halle Berry) assisted by Brian Harper (Patrick Wilson) and KC Housman (John Bradley) finally carried out the mission risking their lives and leaving those closest to them.
Putting Humor as a Character’s Strength
Patrick Wilson who managed to bring the astronaut character very well. Coupled with Halle Berry’s professionalism and flying hours, which rarely disappoints her fans. The duet between the two is complete with the presence of Jhon Bradley as KC Housman who can balance the role play between a group of bearers of this rescue mission.
The audience’s emotions seem to be brought up and down by the tense situation between the three main roles, but at other times they bring along dialogues that seem ridiculous and invite laughter. Housman puts an interesting side of humor, even when in a precarious situation.
Good Story But Less Developed
The premise of the film that offers a side story of the fall of the moon that will hit the earth is a very interesting story idea, but in reality some parts of the film are made too exaggerated and unimportant. The focus of the film that spreads everywhere also distracts the audience from capturing the interesting side of this film.
The drama about astronauts and their families is also made with a lot of responsibility, because the background of the supporting characters is told in a stuttering and half-hearted way. Basically, this family focus should be removed, and replaced with a portion of the story of the earth-saving mission that makes more sense.
save the No Playing Visual Effects
The film, which was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, displays stunning visual effects. The audience seemed really invited to believe the narrative “what if the moon fell to earth”. The phenomenon of changes in gravity and anomalies caused by extreme changes that occur on the moon also appear straightforwardly.
“Moonfall” manages to spoil the eye with the visuals of outer space which is described as a large and empty space, the details of the moon’s texture are astonishing, and the lighting is just right from the start of the film to give a picture of a dark sky.
Although from some points, it looks like there is a CGI effect leaking when showing the atmosphere of the destruction of the earth, the visuals look less than smooth. However, this gap can still be forgiven with the visual color of space that looks very beautiful and as expected.
In the end, “Moonfall” succeeded as a disaster movie because of its visual effects that depicted the destruction well, its strength also lies in the placement of humor that fits the portion. However, for fans of science fiction stories such as “Interstellar” (2014), the film “Moonfall” will be far from expectations, because it is not considered a mature film in the process of being developed from such a genre.
