"Tracks... they aren't ours."
No Apollo 18 (2011) thankfully is not a sequel to Ron Howard's Apollo 13 (1995). Apollo 18 is a found footage, sci-fi horror film telling the "true" events of why we do not return to the moon.
I actually liked the story and idea behind this movie, but it's a good idea with not enough real content to back it up.
Biggest problem with this film is how hollow and undeveloped the characters are. The film is like watching cardboard cutouts of characters for the first half and in a film like this with not a whole lot going on in the first half... this makes it REALLY freaking boring! This films writer and director could have learned a lesson from Alien (1979), 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) or even Moon (2009) on this.
This is a 90 minute film that felt like 3 hours because of the lack of character and content. Things would happen that weren't interesting at all and the characters would react like it was... and I had to fight the urge to turn it off a couple times in the first half.
Also this film really felt too current. Things kept happening where I'd be like, "OH yeah! This is supposed to be 1974!" I feel like the writer wasn't conscious for most of the seventies and didn't do the proper research as how people in the seventies talked because this kept taking me out of the film.
Fortunately there's very few CG effects in this film because they're pretty bad when they do appear. They overdo the "aging" of this film... to the point where it gets very distracting in some parts.
After all that this film had some really great moments that I really enjoyed. SPOILERS: When they find the tracks, cosmonaut ship and when NASA refuses to rescue them. These are all cool moments but they're so few and far between, it takes a long time to get there.
Oh and the sets were really convincing, shows how easy it is to fake a moon video I guess haha.
Apollo 18 (2011) is a good idea with out much substance to back it up. But if you enjoy sci-fi horror, I felt this movie was satisfying enough to warrant a watch. 2.5/5 stars.
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