Apollo 18 ~ Much like my earlier review of Rise of the Planet of the Apes, this movie pulls at my nostalgic heartstrings. NASA, the Apollo program, the moon landings, Skylab, Tang, all that stuff is a part of my childhood, and monumental to the 1970s. It's worth noting that even Steve Austin was an astronaut, that's how tied together this all is. And a movie about a mysterious Apollo 18 mission fits right in with my recent flights of nostalgia.
From the opening moments of Apollo 18 where it portends to be a found footage film, my heart sank. This type of filmmaking rarely works, and if it does, it usually falls apart at the end. Blair Witch and Chronicle are the rare exceptions to the rule. I hoped this would be as well. Just don't think about how it is you're watching this film. It's apparently edited together after the fact, takes advantage of the poor video quality of the missions, and also spotlights bits of film the viewer is supposed to pay attention to. For me, that kind of ruins it. Don't oversell, and don't underestimate your audience.
We see lots of the cast, but sadly the film doesn't give us enough of the astronauts for us to care about them. This probably remains the biggest fault of the film. That said, once into the premise and watching the movie, you can't take your eyes off it. So settle in, dim the lights, and add some vodka to your Tang, you're in for an intriguing and startling ride. Not what I expected at all. Relax and enjoy.
I really liked this post. I did see the movie and it was good. I was left with many questions, though. Why did we stop going to the moon? We just stopped even though we were still financially able to do so in the past. I only know this movie had me thinking.
ReplyDeleteI did see the movie and loved it. It did leave me thinking why we stopped sending people to the moon. It doesn't matter now, because without a space program of our own, we're earthbound
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