Feb 17: Apollo 18

"Decades-old found footage from NASA's abandoned Apollo 18 mission, where two American astronauts were sent on a secret expedition, reveals the reason the U.S. has never returned to the moon."

   Apollo 18 is what happens when anyone thinks they can make a "found footage" film. The film is poorly made with awful pacing and an absolutely boring plot. Apollo 18 is only 86 minutes long but the whole ordeal feels stretched out even longer. I am honestly surprised the film even got a theatrical release. Apollo 18 is clearly attempting to duplicate the success of the Paranormal Activity franchise but fails in every attempt. There are only a couple of scares and any tension the film tries to build is ruined with poor camerawork and boring characters.

 This is how you make an Apollo movie. 

   One of the worst parts of Apollo 18 is the characters. The acting is not bad, it's just that the script has no development and you really don't care what happens to them. In fact, with the seemingly long run-time, you kind of hope they die sooner than later. I really found myself not caring one bit about the astronauts or their mission. The first half of the film is just them going to the moon and there are plenty of opportunities to give the characters depth, but the film just doesn't even try. It's almost as though we're placed into the vehicle with them simply for the ride, but without enjoying the beauty of space. 

None of this. 

   Overall, Apollo 18 is completely lackluster in all aspects and fails to bring anything new to the sci-fi or horror genres. The entire movie is filmed as though a kid (pumped with sugar and Redbull) was handed a camera and then told to run around a sound stage following a couple of guys in spacesuits. The "creatures", if you will, are underwhelming and leave you wondering what the f**k just happened. The premise for the entire thing is one of the most interesting things, and if the idea was executed properly, Apollo 18 could have been one of the scariest movies in years. But alas, it fails in its entirety. 

The Good:

good idea and setting

The Bad:

a setting so creepy on its own- space, is not used to its potential and builds no suspense

The Ugly:

no character development or even a remotely interesting script, and God-awful camerawork

Overall: 4.3/10

Best Quote:

psh, yeah right