MOONFALL

US/Germany, 2022, 130 minutes, Colour.

Halle Berry, Patrick Wilson, John Bradley, Charlie Plummer, Michael Peña, Carolina Bartczak, Zayn Maloney, Ava Weiss, Stephen Bogaert, Donald Sutherland.

Directed by Roland Emmerich.

The moon going off orbit. That sounds like an exciting premiss for some science fiction imagination. The moon coming closer towards earth, rising and setting irregularly, the loss of control of the tides and consequent flooding… Solid ingredients. And that is the basic challenge of Roland Emmerich’s Moonfall. Not that he hasn’t contemplated extensive destruction all over the earth – Independence Day, Godzilla, climate change in The Day After Tomorrow… (Although this reviewer’s favourite Emmerich film is his Shakespeare/Duke of Oxford, de-parody, Anonymous. More films like Anonymous, please!)

For a while, in the 1970s, conspiracy theorists told us that there was no moon landing, that it was all re-enacted in a movie studio. This time, there is another conspiracy theory or, at least, a reinterpretation of human history, especially concerning aliens, and that the moon is actually a “Megastructure”, a source of artificial intelligence, with an enormous mechanical core…

So, this is one of those science-fiction disaster movies where one is invited to have more than willing suspension of disbelief. Could this possibly happen!

The film opens in 2011, a lunar expedition, Patrick Wilson and Halle Berry as the leaders. The craft experiences a shudder and one of the crew is lost – and Patrick Wilson is condemned by courts, disgraced, from hero to pariah. And then the action shifts to 10 years later, our time. And the moon goes out of its orbit – with some visually amazing special effects, giant waves, floods, and even the tower of the Chrysler building landing in the Rockies!

Which means, of course, that there has to be an expedition to steady the moon’s orbit. And, of course, who has to go but Patrick Wilson, living alone, repairing cars, alienated from his wife who has remarried, from his teenage son who is arrested for reckless driving and drug possession? Reinstated, he has to team up again with Halle Berry who has become head of NASA. But, the interesting character is John Bradley’s KC Houseman, a more-than-eccentric delete amateur mathematician and moon theorist, especially those ideas of Megastructures and the construction of the moon. He is a welcome presence, one of those large-build actors (his choice of words in the screenplay is “chubby”), Jonah Hill and Josh Gad, who is something of a scientific genius, but ignored by all except his mother and some really eccentric friends.

So, no spoilers, simply to ask will the expedition rectify the orbit, save Earth, head off the chiefs of staff who want to nuke the rampaging AI? (And, for some more dramatic excitement, there is a lot of the action taking place on earth, the astronauts’ sons involved in adventures as they try to escape to safety in Colorado.)

Action adventure for science-fiction fans rather than for scientists.

1. The films of the director, disaster movies, the fate of the earth, destruction?
2. The premise of the plot, the moon Is a megastructure, its creation, aliens, human ancestors? The moon falling out of alignment? Consequences for Earth? Plausibility of this plot?
3. The initial expedition, the introduction to Brian Harper, Jo Fowler, the work and repairs of the spacecraft, the tremor, the death of the astronaut? The consequences? No explanation of the shudder? The court cases, the condemnation of Harper, his previous reputation, Jo and her testimony against him? His being disgraced?
4. Brian, relationship with his wife, Sonny, her leaving him, marrying Tom, their daughters? Brian living alone, repairing cars? In debt? Sonny, reckless driving, drugs, the court case, Bryan intervening, the judge unhappy, Sonny’s sentence?
5. The introduction to KC Housman, age, experience, knowledge, research, documentation, his mother, his friends and their meetings, eccentric? His realisation of the moon’s orbit, trying to communicate, no reply from Jo Fowler, going to see Brian, not & to? Brian late for the lecture with see children, KC giving the talk, talking with Brian, thought of as eccentric?
6. The moon’s orbit, the consequences, nearing Earth, control of the tides, loss of control, the visuals of the flooding? The changing of the temperatures? The pieces falling from the moon, destruction, the Chrysler Tower in the Rockies?
7. Brian, his response, going to the meeting, KC and his theory on Megastructures, the origins of the Moon, aliens, mechanical?
8. NASA, the information about the moon, the visuals of the monster, the European expedition, sending the probe down into the hole? Their deaths? Jo and her response, wanting to do something? Contacting Doug, his being with the chiefs of staff, their solution for nuclear destruction? Her wanting to prevent this, are concerned about Jimmy, the au pair girl, the plan to go to Colorado to safety?
9. Bryan bringing KC to meet Joe, her previous disregard, listening to his theories? The plan, her son’s thought about the craft in the Museums? Bringing on the staff, the research? The statistics on the moon’s orbit, KC and his contribution? Jo and her calling Doug, his delaying with the chiefs of staff?
10. The tidal wave, the destruction? Re-creating the spacecraft, the technicians, the launch?
11. The down on Earth story, Bryan getting Jo to negotiate Sonny’s release from prison, Sonny and his getting Jimmy and the nurse to safety? The drive, the thugs pursuing, the guns, on the road, Jimmy getting the other hand, the continued pursuit, the quakes, the guns, the death of the pursuers? Tom, with his children, the lack of oxygen, staying behind, the others getting to safety in the tunnel? Sonny, fall over the cliff, the girl coming to save him, the gravity, loosening him, the family getting together?
12. KC having to go to space, the comments about his eccentricities, chubby frame, his going, the tasks? In space, at the moon, the hole? Going down?
13. The discovery of the megastructure of the moon, the visuals and special effects, the credibility of the stories, Bryan and his son appearing, the consciousness of the Moon taking human shape? The crashes, the pursuit of the artificial intelligence as a monster? KC and Joe, in the corridor is, finding Brian, his being willing to sacrifice himself?
14. Using a spacecraft from the moon, the bomb, Bryan and his plan, KC tricking him, going to sacrifice himself, then Brian had believed in him, the explosion?
15. The moon gradually rectifying itself, Doug and his putting the gun chiefs of staff?
16. KC did, the appearance of his mother, achievement?
17. The module, landing on earth, Jo and Bryan safe, the helicopter, meeting their families?
18. Science fiction, conspiracy theory background, heroics?