Moonfall: It wasn't too long ago that German director Roland Emmerich (Independence Day, The Day After Tomorrow) could be relied upon to make sweeping blockbusters that were exceptionally stupid and very entertaining. His signature skills started to fade away with the poor Independence Day follow-up Resurgence back in 2016 and almost 6 years later, the ungodly awful Moonfall appears to have permanently laid them to rest.
The ingredients for another successful Emmerich disaster pic are all right in front of him: Earth is facing a potential extinction at the hands of its own moon when it's unexpectedly knocked out of orbit and the explanation as to why gets crazier and crazier as the trio of astronauts (Halle Berry, Patrick Wilson, John Bradley) sent to investigate the phenomenon start to get answers. But time seems to have stripped Emmerich of the enthusiasm and feel he once had for preparing his signature dish. The endless idiocy that makes up Moonfall is delivered in such a joyless manner that it eliminates even the slightest chance of something fun occurring. Moonfall's ability to turn plot developments that are so crazy that it's hard to believe that they even appear in a real movie into the driest, dullest shit imaginable is a terrible magic trick that should've never happened in a million years under the guidance of a director that has plenty of experience of turning gleeful stupidity into irresistible entertainment. Emmerich missed an open goal by 100 miles with Moonfall and the staggering ineptitude on display throughout marks a really sad fall from grace for one of the greatest architects of big, trashy entertainment that Hollywood has seen over the past 30 years.
Grade: D-
I Want You Back: As a streaming romantic comedy that was purposely released at a time where it could capitalize on the boom the genre inevitably receives on and around Valentine's Day, I Want You Back gets the job done. It's a pleasant, undemanding watch that is relatively funny, naturally sweet without being too corny and boasts a great lead pairing in Charlie Day and Jenny Slate who skillfully navigate both sides of the genre coin. Unflashy, competent romcoms could become a nice little tradition during this not overly riveting portion of the release calendar, so hopefully some respectable writers/directors and appealing actors with comedic chops and solid chemistry can come through and make that happen.
Grade: B
KIMI: Unlike Steven Soderbergh's previous foray into the thriller genre (the dull and convoluted Unsane), KIMI is an energetic, paranoia-filled tale that makes the most of its contained settings and sub-90-minute runtime. Zoe Kravitz turns in a great performance as an agoraphobic tech worker who is forced to venture outside the walls of her Seattle apartment after she stumbles upon a violent crime on an audio stream she was tasked with reviewing and Soderbergh is able to effectively heighten the tension by deploying wobbly camerawork that mirrors the visible anxiety Kravitz's character is experiencing in these situations and a pulsating score from Cliff Martinez during most of the key sequences. A pretty silly final act that isn't really tonally in line with what comes before it and the half-assed attempts to provide commentary on the invasive security practices of big tech companies take away from some of the fun, but even with those shaky elements, KIMI still manages to be Soderbergh's best effort since Logan Lucky by a pretty comfortable margin.
Grade: B
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