Apollo 18

I have been waiting to see this movie for a long time. It was supposed to come out in October of 2010, then it got shoved to early 2011, then fall of 2011. And then, of course, when it finally came out, it only played for like 2 weeks, and I missed the last screening of it. Literally. I had no idea it wasn't going to be showing the next day, and I skipped out on it because I was waiting to see it with someone who flaked out on me anyways. Surprise. And when it finally comes out in December, my store doesn't get it because we're closing. Freaking awesome. So when all is said and done, I have been waiting about a year and a half to see this freaking thing. It better be worth it, right?

Well, obviously the anticipation was high for me, despite the fact that I had heard nothing but really bad things about "Apollo 18." Everyone just tore this movie apart, but I stayed optimistic, generally because most of the people tearing it apart also hated "The Blair Witch Project," which I personally found to be brilliant. I thought it looked like something I could dig, since I think the "found footage" genre can be very effective. Oddly enough, I intensely dislike the "Paranormal Activity" series. Go figure.

"Apollo 18" is the story of the TOP SECRET MISSION of our last time going to the moon. For those of you who don't know your history, there were only 17 Apollo moon missions. There we are told why we never went back to the moon: Moon Crabs. Oh, I'm for real. You don't want to mess with the Moon Crabs. They will give you such a pinch.

"Looking for lifeforms on the moon? Why not Zoidberg?"

When you boil it down, "Apollo 18" really is "Blair Witch Project" on the moon, and that right there is going to be enough to make or break it for you. If you hated "Blair Witch Project," I can't see this working for you. If you liked "Blair Witch Project," well, I'm not going to say you're going to like it, but you've got a good head start.

Me personally? It was...OK. Not the masterpiece I wanted, but what I got was passable. The saving grace really comes from a handful of scenes and shots that are quite unnerving. These include the exploration of a pitch-black crater using a camera flash that works like the world's slowest strobe light (in fact they do this twice), a desperate run to safety that makes you feel out of breath watching it, and some very creepy discoveries on the moon involving stuff that just shouldn't be there.

One thing I wasn't really expecting was the quasi-"X-Files" conspiracy vibe the movie gives out at times, which gets a little silly when you think about it. (*Slight spoiler warning*) Is it ridiculous that the D.O.D. would send astronauts that they've trained for years and spent millions of dollars on up there to die as some kind of guinea pigs? Yeah, it is. But then again, who else are they going to send? Oil drillers? That would just be stupid.

I felt the conspiracy angle was a little ham-fisted, but it really didn't ruin the movie for me. It was more of a "Oh. I guess I should have seen that coming. Of course, why not?" moment. But by the end, the tension has been ratcheted up so much that it really didn't matter. I just wanted to see the dudes get home, and "Apollo 18" did a great job making you feel for the astronauts.

The last 15 minutes of the movie is when it really is at its most alive, as one would expect from the climax of a film. And although the ending will probably tick a lot of people off (the endings of these kinds of movie typically do), it really couldn't have finished any other way and maintained its tone. Because, come on. You knew this wasn't going to end well.

BOTTOM LINE - If you like the "found footage" genre at all, this will probably intrigue you, but it probably won't blow your mind. If you hate this genre, you won't see it anyway.