In the Shadow of the Moon: Movie Review

"In the Shadow of the Moon" surprised us. We expected this to be a generic scifi thriller - one that will be completely devoid of any fresh take on the genre and one that will completely bore us out of our wits. The end product is still leaning on generic but we didn't expect to have so much fun while at it. While there are certainly other similar films supremely better than "Tn the Shadow of the Moon", we cannot deny that we did enjoy the two hour or so romp through almost four decades of past and future.

It's 1988 and the city of Philadelphia has just encountered a mass murder of unthinkable and illogical proportions. Three random people have been injected with an unknown isotope making them hemorrhage to death in seconds. Leading the investigation is officer Thomas Lockhart (Boyd Holbrook) who believes this is his ticket onto becoming a real detective. As another victim has been injected, Lockhart is on a race to capture the perpetrator at all costs.

In the Shadow of the Moon" doesn't do anything special to really stand out. In fact, it's weakest link was easily its story. The sci-fi aspect was completely laughable and under-developed. It did not make any sense especially how the killing device worked spending literally five seconds for a scientist to say it was possible with no explanation at all. This could easily fit into a made-for-SyFy film. Additionally, we couldn't really get the obsession of Thomas Lockhart into finding out the truth - an obsession that completely ruined much of his life. Was it to save someone? But would stopping the perpetrator really save that person from their fate? Was it just out of pure curiosity? He seemed more crazy than normal near the end of the film. Surprisingly, even with a pretty generic and mediocre narrative, we found ourselves enjoying the film. The film worked well when it goes into a procedural drama mode as Lockhart and his partner investigate to find out the truth. The investigations were quick but meaty and ultimately well-paced. The cinematography was also good providing audiences an up-close vibe that made the action and detective work feel authentic and real. The acting was good but nothing great. Boyd Holbrook as the lead stood out the most. "In the Shadow of the Moon" turns out to be a good experience as it had good cinematography focused on the fun parts. Even with a bad story, it found a way to be more interesting than it should have been. But let's be honest, don't expect it to be as good as "Looper".

Rating: 3 and a half reels





Why you should watch it:
- cinematography and structure made this more fun than it should have been

Why you shouldn't watch it:
- the story was mediocre at best

You can catch "In the Shadow of the Moon" on Netflix.