Review: Apollo 18 (Blu-ray)

The idea of making a “found footage” film isn’t anything new, but everyone seems to be jumping on the bandwagon lately.  Apollo 18 tries to set itself apart by giving us a “found footage” movie that takes place on the moon, but ends up being a poor execution of an interesting concept.

Apollo 18 follows a 3-man space crew that are sent by the Department of Defense on a secret mission to the moon. While their official mission was to deploy an early warning system, it doesn’t take them long to figure out that they've been sent to investigate a possible extraterrestrial presence.

This pitch seems like it would be an easy sell. With the popularity of Paranormal Activity and other “found footage” films, applying this style to space exploration and following the blueprints of popular sci-fi films sounds like a recipe for success. The problem is that the concept was never fleshed out. Many of these “found footage” films rely on interesting characters and dialogue, or at least people that you can identify with. In this case, there is barely an introduction to the main characters before they take off to the moon and the movie never spends enough time developing the relationships between them. Combined with plot holes, a lack of real tension, and bland dialogue, you aren’t given enough to care about the predicament these astronauts are in.

I will say that director Gonzalo López-Gallego and editor Patrick Lussier were able to effectively introduce the movie as if it were made up of cut footage from different camera sources during the 1970’s. The look of the film itself and the astronauts' visit to the moon is more than convincing until the addition of unrealistic CGI near the middle of the movie. A film such as this relies on the audience believing that what they are watching is real. The obvious usage of CGI is inexcusable and defeats the original goal Apollo 18 set out to accomplish. It also doesn’t help that the reveal of what is on the moon is not particularly interesting or scary. I have a really tough time understanding some of the creative decisions that were made here. They had a blank slate to do anything they wanted on the moon and plenty of sci-fi films to use as inspiration.

If you’re watching this movie on DVD/Blu-ray, the disc comes along with a number of special features including a commentary with Gonzalo López-Gallego and Patrick Lussier, deleted scenes, and alternate endings. The alternate endings are worth checking out, just so that you can see how unsure the filmmakers were of the final outcome. The extra footage wouldn't have saved the movie, but the deleted scenes do add to the character development and I may have preferred one of these alternate endings in particular over the one used in the theatrical release.

I have a really tough time recommending this film to anyone other than horror fans who are obsessed with the “found footage” sub-genre or conspiracy theorists that want a visual reference for their ideas. Given the budget of successful films like the Blair Witch Project, the Paranormal Activity series, and The Last Exorcism, it's easy to see why Dimension Films wanted their own "found footage" hit. Unfortunately, the proper amount of creative time and effort was not put into this film during the early stages and we're left with a lifeless movie. The filmmakers wanted you to believe that Apollo 18 was made up of lost footage, but a weak script, underdeveloped characters, and poor CGI prevent an interesting concept from being fully realized.

Film Score: 1/5   Disc Score: 3/5