Moonfall Review: 4 Ups & 6 Downs

4. The Totally Wasted Supporting Cast

Like most of his movies, Emmerich has lured in a decorated supporting cast with what we can assume was some sizable paychecks, though most of the actors in question are basically wasted here.

The most egregious squandering of a legendary actor is surely Donald Sutherland, who is quite literally wheeled out for a single scene as Holdenfield, a shadowy conspiracy theorist who apprises Halle Berry's NASA honcho Jo Fowler of the apparent truth behind the Moon.

His part is so insubstantial and un-cinematic it clearly could've been shot on a green screen in the actor's garden, and he can't even pretend to feign enthusiasm.

Michael Peña is also thrust into a surprisingly nothing role as Tom Lopez, the smug new husband of Brian Harper's (Patrick Wilson) ex-wife, who is basically just part of the scenery.

Getting slightly more to do is talented rising actor Charlie Plummer, in that he has a decent amount of screen time throughout as Brian's troubled son Sonny, but he also ends up fatally trapped in the story's worst subplot.

Speaking of subplots...