Apollo 18 is a 2011 American-Canadian alternate history found footage science fiction horror film directed by Gonzalo López-Gallego. It stars Warren Christie as Ben Anderson, Lloyd Owen as Nate, and Tyaan Robbins as John Grey. These three astronauts are sent on a moon mission to deploy some equipment but their true mission gets revealed a bit further into the movie. Apollo 18 (2011) movie review
While I do understand that many people hate found footage movies or just became bored of them, this is one that I think was done very well. There is not too much going on with a story that doesn’t have traditional linear progression. However it has enough elements in it to keep us engaged. From beginning to end, the movie is shot in a way that resembles footage from other missions but with a lot more editing jump cuts. This gives it an amateurish look, but gain, found footage is supposed to look that way. It is not meant to look clean and professionally made like normal movies.
When the astronauts get to the moon, they observe nothing odd about it. They go about their mission but slowly come to a realization that they have either been lied about their mission. They try to keep a rational mind but lose it when they find a dead cosmonaut and become increasingly paranoid that they are not alone. After this all hell breaks loose as even their communication with Earth folks becomes limited and infrequent.
While the movie plays on the greatest fantasy of the conspiracy nuts out there, it still keeps it grounded in reality. By that I mean it goes through a huge length to show us how life is during these mission. The scenes outside were well done with some scenes that could have been done better, like when foreground rocks are everywhere while background in the distance it looks like smooth hill. This is a small complaint though as most special effects of the moon were really well made.
The constant impending doom paired with lack of communication from Earth makes this movie very intense. In the scenes that are not too exciting like the lunar flipping over, if you look at the background you will see a lot of interesting things that are not shown too much in the movie. **That brings me to my major complaint which is echoed by a lot of other people – lack of screentime for the creatures. Think of it as glimpses rather than scenes where we can truly get to see them. Their reveal was intense but that wore off because we didn’t see how they look. We don’t see how they differ from each other since there obviously is a difference in size. **
Overall the movie was an effective low burn. It could have been developed a bit more but it gave us enough to keep us interested. The entire found footage is a hit or miss but this one does a good job with the genre it is representing. The pace is very slow and the acting overall is good. Most people would find this movie to be stupid and boring, but I loved the premise of it. It takes historical events and asks what if we are not told everything. Fun fact – NASA is officially on record saying this is not a documentary haha.
Give it a go. It is only about 90 min. It has some twists and turns that should be enough to make it worth it
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