"The Fall of the Moon" annoys with stupidity, but pleases with its scale
Miscellaneous / / February 03, 2022
Try to turn off your brain and just enjoy the action.
On February 3, a new film by Roland Emmerich "The Fall of the Moon" is released on Russian screens. What exactly to expect from her, you can immediately understand if you look at the filmography of this director. In 1996, he reached a new level of popularity, filming "Independence Day", in which aliens attack the Earth and cause massive destruction. Two years later, Emmerich restarted Godzilla by sending a giant lizard to sack New York City. Then there was the picture "The Day After Tomorrow", in which the whole Earth froze. And then "2012", where the planet was flooded.
In general, this director is excellent at showing cataclysms and large-scale destruction. Moreover, in all these films, one of the main characters is a scientist, and a family theme is necessarily revealed in the background. All these elements are present in Moonfall, so the picture is most simply described in one phrase: this is exactly the same disaster film by Roland Emmerich as all the previous ones.
And then everyone will decide for himself whether this is an advantage or a disadvantage. After all, on the one hand, the director again shows the most large-scale special effects and global destruction. On the other hand, the plot twists in the picture are spelled out completely unnaturally, and the dialogues are even worse.
You will feel like you have already seen this movie.
In 2011, a NASA crew repairing a satellite encountered a strange alien entity. One astronaut died, after which the management tried to hide the true causes of the accident. Commander Brian Harper (Patrick Wilson) was suspended for trying to expose the truth, and Jo Fuller (Halle Berry) agreed with the official story and was promoted.
Ten years later, KC Houseman (John Bradley), a proponent of the theory that the Moon is a megastructure (that is, an artificially created hollow object), detects changes in the satellite's orbit. After a while, NASA notices an anomaly. It becomes clear that under the influence of that same alien force, the Moon falls to Earth, causing all sorts of cataclysms. It's up to Harper, Fuller and Houseman to save the planet. They hurriedly prepare for the mission, and in the meantime, their relatives are trying to get to the shelter.
If you've never played scripted bingo, then Moonfall is the perfect way to get into this game. Just write down in the boxes all the most banal things that come to mind when thinking about heroic fiction, and cross them out when it appears in the picture. Although there is one problem: you will fill the line already in the first third of the plot.
Even the distribution of roles Emmerich makes the most standard. Patrick Wilson plays the best astronaut who, due to his stubbornness and honesty, lost his job, got divorced and sank into apartment debt. But, of course, in a difficult moment, only he can save the world. Halle Berry represents a strong and rational woman who fights for her son, and at the same time for the entire planet. And Bradley (if anyone doesn't remember, he played Samwell Tarly in the "Game of Thrones") is a typical comic hero, necessary for defusing with laughter. Well, in order for a simple viewer to have someone to associate themselves with.
Each plot twist develops in the most predictable, but at the same time ridiculous way. And there is no contradiction in this statement. Simply, on the one hand, the characters will meet each other. They will be the most competent and prepared, they will find an old spaceship in the museum and come up with a non-standard solution to the problem.
On the other hand, the leads to these events seemed to be simply written on pieces of paper, thrown into a bag and pulled out at random. For example: Houseman decides he needs to reach out to Harper after his cat urinates past the tray onto a newspaper with a picture of an astronaut. And the idea to use the old ship is prompted by Fuller, her son, who plays with the model.
Moreover, at any moment when an explanation is required, unknown characters appear out of nowhere in the frame, tell something and disappear forever. Even if they kept this secret for years, and they saw the heroes for the first time. And they just came with someone else's pass to the secret archive.
From dialogues and some lines it will become a little ashamed
When viewing, one gets the feeling that the characters' lines were written by a neural network. And here it’s not even possible to put the blame on translation and dubbing - they are clearly meaningless from the very beginning. So, preparing for the flight, Harper explains to the team their functions with the words "The navigator will make sure that we get to the moon, and the engineer will make the calculations." I just want to remember the songI'm an Accountant / YouTube about an accountant who "works where accountants work."
Of course, it will not do without pathos phrases like "The sand in the clock pours too fast for everyone" and "I serve America." By the way, in the world of this film, the United States seems to be the only developed country. In the news, it occasionally flashes that Asia was flooded, but they don’t even remember about Europe, Russia and other trifles. And only NASA can save the Earth.
But even more pretentious are the talks about the importance of the family. And here the picture can compete almost with the Fast and the Furious. Throughout the film, the characters will repeat that they act for the sake of children and relatives. Those, by the way, at this time will try to escape from cataclysms on Earth. And literally from the very beginning of this part, you can predict everything that will happen to the characters, even understand who will die. Although, in a strange way, a girl will survive, who is not needed at all in the plot. This is perhaps the only surprise.
It may seem that Moonfall is not worth watching at all. But after all, everyone understands why they go to the cinema to see such films.
Effects will make you remember the best disaster movies
It is very ironic that on the eve of the release of the film, the director accusedRoland Emmerich: Marvel Movies and 'Star Wars' Are 'Ruining Our Industry a Little Bit' / Variety movie comics is that "no one else is doing anything original". After all, it is his disaster films that have practically not changed in terms of plot since the mid-nineties. Although thanks to this, all viewers know exactly what to expect from Emmerich's works: the scope of the production and destruction.
You just need to endure the first third of the picture, in which they will only prepare the plot, and wait for the scene where the old space shuttle is dragged through the streets. And then you can plunge into the world of classic disasters and sci-fi, as silly as they are massive.
By the way, now the director refuses any realistic logic in advance, introducing alien forces into the plot. One of the characters will directly say that the rules no longer work. Therefore, the author allows himself to play as he pleases, even with the laws of physics.
It will not do without huge waves covering entire cities. Similar scenes, by the way, were in The Day After Tomorrow and in 2012, only now the water is also taking off due to changes in gravity. And right out of this flood, a spaceship starts. It even sounds good and looks even better.
And in addition to them, the planet will be bombarded with fragments of the moon, earthquakes and other horrors. Strictly speaking, only the need to entertain the viewer with these effects justifies the existence of a line about the children of the main characters. Well, at the same time, Emmerich advertises well-known brands, which looks very intrusive, and sometimes just funny.
Another part of large-scale adventures takes place in space. And here the director, perhaps, goes too far with fantasies. Don't give spoilers, but he overloads the plot with stories of universal scale, technological Matrix-style wars, references to 2001: A Space Odyssey, Armageddon, and more films.
Perhaps some viewers will like such an abundance of visual effects and themes. It will tire others, because even good actors will turn into mere extras at some point. But we can definitely say that the only chance to enjoy the picture is to watch it on the biggest screen with loud sound. In small rooms, and even more so at home, all the advantages will be completely lost, and the problems will become too noticeable.
Interestingly, Roland Emmerich, who once seemed like one of the most mainstream directors, now looks like a retro author. Now few people shoot such straightforward pictures with clichéd images instead of living characters and flat dialogues.
Perhaps there is some nostalgic charm to Moonfall. Those who watched "Independence Day" or "Armageddon" by Michael Bay in the years of their release, as if they will return to decades ago and will see an equally naive and unfinished story, which should please only action and a picture. On the other hand, it is already difficult to take such works seriously. Even in blockbusters, I want to see a more logical or at least unusual plot, and not a set of stereotypes.
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