Earthbound (2012)

I doubt anyone expects this to be in a league with Star Wars. Instead it is a nice romantic story that keeps you in suspense. Is Joe going to choose his heroic delusion, or a normal life with his true love? The movie did a good job of taking you back and forth over which it was.Although the story about a superhero struggling with thinking he was delusional has been done a few times, this is still a cute story. A lot of that is thanks to Jenn Murray who plays the absolutely perfect love interest for a dreamer. She is no Marylin Monroe, but she is as sweet as pure sugar and just as lovable. Whatever Maria did, she was always in love with Joe.Rafe Spall does a good job in Joe's totally naive acceptance of his dad's alien story and still manages to make fun of it just as the movie makes fun of itself and the space hero genre.Humor is spread throughout the movie. The producers turn their low budget into a strength by using ray guns that look like toys and using other props in the same way. It's all part of the satire. Not to say there aren't a couple of decent special effects.

Nice little movie. Felt so much like a Dr. Who episode, you know those ones where the Dr. isn't there? Good solid story. Great job on the special effects. I thought going into this that it was a low budget one camera little movie, but this is a serious film with a really sweet story, and great chemistry between the leads as they grow to know, and love each other. Solid cast of villains, or simply people in the world around Joe that is for you to decide, or discover. A great deal of though, and effort obviously went into the design and feel of all of the space "toys", and gadgets. Cinematography was simple, and never over the top, no swooping crane shots, or fast close-ups. My number 1 favorite thing about this movie is that at no time do you hear That creaking gate sound effect that everyone uses since the 60's, sorry now that you know, you will always hear it too. You will enjoy this movie however.

Initially did not know what to make of the reviews and title. So I just switched on the cable TV and got straight into this movie. It was easy to follow and the geeky bloke made it more sympathetic to relate to(I'm no geek and there is nothing wrong with geeks!) It is a movie which can take you from your living room to another planet and back without feeling tense or wanting something more engrossing. Sit back and enjoy the romantic Irish comical take on life. I would recommend it to friends especially a couple to pass a light hearten evenings fun. Nothing much to discuss about the movie afterwards, but hey, some movies are just enjoyable sod you can move on to the next one!

'Is it a sci-fi or Is it a ROM-com? I mean, what's it trying to be?'. This is the type of criticism I overheard laboured at this movie on the steps of the town hall in Galway on Friday afternoon by the industry types. You know the types I'm talking about. The guys and girls who haven't shaven or washed for about three days.One of the arguments I've heard is that this movie is a difficult sell because it does not fall neatly into one genre. 'Big Bang Theory' anyone? 'What's that?' these arty film types may ask. Only the highest rated comedy on American television. Oh and by the by, it's a sci-fi ROM-com! This movie proves what we all already knew, that Aliens can land outside of the United States. I'm not saying Joe is an alien. I'm merely saying that it's possible. And in fact it makes a lot more sense that Joe would land in Ireland. When you think about it the Americans surly built up massive strategic defense missile silos after the Roswell landings aimed at the milky way. So if you're an Alien traveling to earth, where do you land? Do you aim for the place with all the paranoid people and missiles or do you go for the place with the nice big fields, soft turf and bog, ideal for landing an intergalactic spaceship.The Hollywood reporter describes Joe's laser gun special effects as c grade sci-fi when compared to the effects in Prometheus. Again, that's the point. If Joe had better weapons he would have landed elsewhere. To an Irish guy Joes laser gun is the iphone 4s of laser guns.So I sat down in the town hall in Galway with the aforementioned arty types and a deep sadness came over me as the opening credits rolled. Something was missing. I had clearly walked into a film that was made for audiences and I had no popcorn! I managed to relax sit back and enjoy the show.Several large belly laughs later and after shedding a few tears the lights went up to a spontaneous standing ovation and round of applause. Of course the Arty types maintained their cool while the audience expressed their joy.This movie is funny and moving with a distinctly Irish quirkiness but what I think was so incredible was the sheer ambition of the project. The movie is about people who could be aliens in love who blow up Dublin. Now, isn't that a welcome change from the typical Irish film about some rural weird miserable farmer or guard with a left foot who works in garage and falls in love with a hoover on Grafton street.I think it's time we blew something up. Explosions are cool. This movie was made for audiences everywhere. You will laugh, you may cry, you may think some of it is cheese but you'll enjoy that too and you'll walk out of the movie theater with a smile on your face.So don't make the same mistake I did. Make sure you bring your popcorn and enjoy earthbound.