This may only apply to me —and not say too much about it—, but I have to admit that disaster movies have an unappealable appeal. A magnetism that continues to feed the morbid curiosity to see our civilization collapse in the most thunderous way possible even when we have been —and continue to be— frontline witnesses of a pandemic scenario that, until now, only seemed to have a place in fiction.
Beyond this unhealthy fascination, the prolific genre continues to attract the respectable thanks, first of all, to the facility to transform premises into audiovisual exhibitions and unbeatable torture mechanisms for the characters; being the second great reason related to the validity of some feature films that have reflected on the screen their historical contexts and the prevailing fears in society during their conceptions.
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The pleasure of destruction: the 13 essential films of catastrophe cinema
Now, in full swing of magufadas, hoaxes, fake news and conspiracy paranoia, the master of destruction Roland Emmerich returns to the fray with ‘Moonfall’; a disaster-movie one hundred percent canonical brand of the house which, for better and for worse, strictly complies with the list of topics and common places on which the director has built a good part of his —very enjoyable— filmography.
Don’t say “destruction”, say Roland Emmerich
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Although, after the leap from his native Germany to North American industry, Roland Emmerich has cultivated —with more or less success— all kinds of cinema, giving us titles like ‘Universal Soldier’, ‘Stargate’, ‘The Patriot’, ‘Anonymous’ or the recent and highly recommended war drama ‘Midway’; If we associate anything with the one from Stuttgart, it’s his motley collection of apocalyptic orgies that began in 1996 with the iconic ‘Independence Day’.
It is not necessary to look closely at films like ‘El día de Mañana’ or ‘2012’ to realize that they all conform to certain patterns —some inherited from previous works—, exported to similar contemporary productions such as ‘San Andrés’ or the estimable ‘Greenland: The Last Refuge’. A compendium of narrative mechanisms that once again make an appearance in ‘Moonfall’, turning it into a safe bet for viewers experienced in the matter who are not afraid of “more of the same”.
Once again we come across a collection of dysfunctional families, allegedly crazy people with much more reason than they seemed to have, traumatized heroes, tenacious leaders, tearful sacrifices and fervent speeches embedded in a structure that once again opts for the choral; separating the protagonists in several parallel plots seasoned with the usual white and inoffensive humor and, of course, with a good load of action.
Formally, ‘Moonfall’ is equally topical and effective, especially seasoning its second half with solvent and energetic enough setpieces that show Emmerich’s good hand when it comes to planning and razing cities in large general plane through a more than decent CGI, but that can not avoid recycling resources seen a thousand times before – those chases while the ground sinks behind the vehicles … -.
In the midst of this all-too-familiar picture, the film finds two great assets in its main cast —in which Hale Berry and, above all, Patrick Wilson exude charisma and skill in front of the camera— and, above all, in a surprising and, at times, insane transition to the third act managed in a quite improvable way —we continue to ignore the maxim of the show, don’t tell—and that breathes energy into excessively bulky footage; focused on presenting characters who, after all, are still cannon fodder.
It is very likely that once the lights are turned on in the room after its projection, it will not take long to evaporate from our memory, but, during its 120 minutes, ‘Moonfall’ once again serves us on a silver platter that dark pleasure that comes from seeing the world collapse. Although, the best of all is that, despite not revolutionizing the formula one iota —nor having any pretense of doing so—, it manages to do it in a spectacular and entertaining way that invites us to forget the worldly apocalypse in which we are plunged; and that, after all, is one of the greatest virtues of cinema.
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The news
‘Moonfall’: Roland Emmerich signs a fun apocalyptic orgy that turns commonplaces into signature stamps
was originally published in
Espinof
by Victor Lopez G. .