Moonfall (2022)
6/10
Dumber than a box of rocks but unusually entertaining sci-fi
27 January 2023
Moonfall is, without a doubt, one of the stupidest movies ever made. Yet, it so gloriously 100% commits to its whirlwind of logic-defying hokey conspiracy theory-inspired nonsense that it sucks the audience into its vortex for a vastly entertaining ride.

Two NASA astronauts Brian Harper and Jocinda "Jo" Fowler working together with conspiracy theorist K. C. Houseman discover a secret about the Moon after it leaves its orbit and veers toward Earth.

I have never subscribed to the idea of turning off your brain to enjoy a movie. However, Moonfall, through its brand of pratfall sorcery, effectively shut off my brain. This was The Riddler's brain-drain machine from Batman Forever, dazzling me with spectacle while sucking up my IQ. I waved goodbye to logic, science, and generally "how things work."

Halle Berry, Patrick Wilson, John Bradley, Michael Pena, and the cast all do their best selling all the ridiculousness and delivering ultra-stilted dialogue. It's amusing watching them be so serious and hold it together. At any given moment, I imagine a slight smirk from any of the actors would have them all breaking and laughing.

Moonfall was an unusually great time. I was riveted by the mystery behind the Moon and on the edge of my seat by the disaster sequences that ignore physics. The logic of how things progress from A to B is so warped that it inadvertently makes the story unpredictable. I was kind of amazed by where the story ended up. At the back of my mind the whole time, I was completely stupefied by how the movie was barely hanging together through its extravagant ambition.

The film played like a parody of Roland Emmerich disaster movies itself and got away with it. This will vary for different people as it heavily depends if you can enjoy a bad movie. I enjoyed it unironically, which is odd and an achievement of sorts. I would love to see a sequel.
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