Antoine Bardou-Jacquet’s action-comedy is one small farce for man, one giant con for mankind.
From first-time feature director Antoine Bardou-Jacquet, Moonwalkers boasts a genius premise. In the film, Special Agent Kidman (Ron Perlman) is tasked by the CIA to fake NASA’s 1969 moon landing in the (apparently) very likely event that Apollo 11 fails to achieve its goal. And who better to pull off such a ruse than 2001: A Space Odyssey director Stanley Kubrick?
The thing is, when Kidman goes to London to recruit the legendary filmmaker, he unwittingly hires a deadbeat band manager named Jonny (Rupert Grint) and Jonny’s completely fried roommate Leon (Robert Sheehan), who just so happens to bare a striking resemblance to Kubrick, instead.
We want to hear it.
Of course, this is a reference to the long-running conspiracy theory that Kubrick actually directed a fake moon landing, but with the aforementioned twist of it not being Kubrick. But it’s Bardou-Jacquet’s humorous and quirky execution that sells the concept. There’s almost a Coen Brothers-esque charm to the proceedings, which takes the story in unique and unexpected directions, particularly in the second half. On top of that, the film makes good use of its period setting, offering psychedelic sets and imagery well-suited to Bardou-Jacquet’s bizarre, vicious comedy.
Moonwalkers also does an excellent job of intercutting Apollo 11’s trajectory with Kidman and Jonny’s haphazard production. This keeps the viewer guessing as to whether NASA will actually pull off the moon landing or rely on our hapless heroes to somehow fabricate the thing. The result is a delightful push and pull between the two, with several good twists and turns along the way.
That’s not to mention the three leads, whose characters are tailor-made for them. Perlman plays his straight-laced Vietnam vet in two modes: stoic Easter Island head with a voice like whiskey, and bloodthirsty caveman who can and will beat the s*** out of you at a moment’s notice — both of which are highly enjoyable. Meanwhile, Grint channels his inner sleaze as Jonny and plays the character with all the sad desperation of an ill-fated Ron Weasley. However, the breakout star in this is Sheehan, who gets some of the biggest laugh-out-loud lines from Death at a Funeral writer Dean Craig’s script.
Robert Sheehan, Rupert Grint and Ron Perlman in Moonwalkers
That said, Moonwalkers does get a little carried away with its own wacky antics sometimes. For example, Jonny’s band partners have their own entire subplot, which peters out before the big showdown at the end. Another drug-fueled sequence — Kidman’s come-to-Jesus moment — goes on for too long and veers far away from the main plot. Luckily, the finale ends most of the other storylines in satisfying ways.
In the end, Moonwalkers is an entertaining ride that effectively toys with the “What if…?” scenario it’s given. And at just over an hour-and-a-half long, the film moves at a steady clip thanks to its talented performers, Craig’s script and Bardou-Jacquet’s keen sensibilities.
Moonwalkers has all the makings of a cult classic. The logline alone is a hoot, while Perlman, Grint and Sheehan excel in their equally disparate roles. Director Bardou-Jacquet delivers a potent mix of dark comedy and surprisingly ruthless violence — which is made all the more impressive by the fact that Moonwalkers is his first feature film. While some of the subplots are either unnecessary or longwinded, the main storyline is both smart and compelling, and it’s certainly worth the watch.
