I saw during spring 2022 in the cinema on the strength of the trailers and the reputation of the actors and director. I enjoyed myself, so I sought out and purchased the digital version when it became available. Since then, I've watched 6 or 7 times (admittedly sometimes with <100% attention) and have enjoyed myself.
Look: some plot points are silly, and IMHO they zipped through the discovery-to-calamity stage way too quickly (cf. Deep Impact, and even Armageddon, which were more measured in the escalating crisis). The latter was jarring, especially since, as a result, the character development pre-crisis is fairly thin.
However the result is a fairly early turn of focus on the savior stage, during which the lead characters work on saving the earth from imminent destruction. There are some pretty neat visual effects, especially centering on spacecraft launches and interactions with the foe. Sequences with Sonny and his comrades are hastily drawn but are in their own way effective.
I don't wish to get bogged down on the credibility of the movie's premise. As Roger Ebert says (paraphrasing) the value of a movie is how it's about what it's about. With that out of the way, I found the movie's "universe" compelling and thought-provoking.
Good to very good performances all around, with shout-outs to John Bradley (K. C.) and Charlie Plummer (Sonny). I'd seek these two out in future performances.
Look: some plot points are silly, and IMHO they zipped through the discovery-to-calamity stage way too quickly (cf. Deep Impact, and even Armageddon, which were more measured in the escalating crisis). The latter was jarring, especially since, as a result, the character development pre-crisis is fairly thin.
However the result is a fairly early turn of focus on the savior stage, during which the lead characters work on saving the earth from imminent destruction. There are some pretty neat visual effects, especially centering on spacecraft launches and interactions with the foe. Sequences with Sonny and his comrades are hastily drawn but are in their own way effective.
I don't wish to get bogged down on the credibility of the movie's premise. As Roger Ebert says (paraphrasing) the value of a movie is how it's about what it's about. With that out of the way, I found the movie's "universe" compelling and thought-provoking.
Good to very good performances all around, with shout-outs to John Bradley (K. C.) and Charlie Plummer (Sonny). I'd seek these two out in future performances.