Apollo 18

Starring: Warren Christie, Lloyd Owen, Ryan Robbins, Michael Kopsa
Directed by: Gonzalo Lopez-Gallego
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Horror, Science Fiction, Thriller
2011

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Found footage suggests there was a secret trip to the moon, Apollo 18- and tells of the terrifying discovery made there.

Review:

Tim: In theory, I loved the idea of this movie. Just listen to the tagline- "There's a reason we've never gone back to the moon." Incredibly cool, and I'm automatically there. I love the idea of a secret moon flight with a covert mission. I suppose the "found footage" aspect makes it interesting. Now, it's unfortunate that despite the innovative idea, the movie fails on execution. This is another forgettable, only mildly amusing horror movie. It wasn't exactly an enjoyable experience.

The biggest problem with the film is that the basic concept is pretty silly. If the movie had worked harder to make me believe, I might have bought into the storyline. However, it just seemed so far-fetched and absurd that I had a hard time buying it. The very notion that there was this much quality footage left over from the 1970s (on a failed mission, no less) is ridiculous. I don't seem to remember there being so many cameras on the other Apollo missions. The movie tries to explain this, but I wasn't buying it. The idea of this movie is cool, but the underlying reality is that it's too ridiculous to be believable.

I thought the movie was mildly interesting, but not much more than that. There were a few scary moments, but these are in the minority. It's hard to feel fear for characters on screen when everything about their situation seems manufactured-in-Hollywood. The whole motion-sensored cameras thing didn't help matters, either. When it comes right down to it, Apollo 18 recycles scares from many other horror movies. Strip away the sci-fi elements, and this is your basic, run-of-the-mill horror movie. It's disappointing how predictable the film is.

Despite a few cool moments (the Russian subplot was unexpected), the movie as a whole simply plods along, taking itself very seriously while audiences have to be rolling their eyes at the events on the screen. This movie never gave me a reason to suspend my disbelief. Apollo 18 took a very cool idea and gave us an expected, redundant movie. There aren't any truly frightening moments or particularly memorable sequences. This is not a good movie in any way.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Event Horizon, Paranormal Activity