The general story was okay. It wasn't anything entirely original. But that's not exactly surprising. I didn't care much for the entire "government uses humans as guinea pigs without their consent" theme. In one alternate ending, they needed this information to possibly find a way to counterattack the Russians should they have gotten their hands on the aliens and used them, in some way, as a biological weapon, since the aliens carry a disease of some sort. If the story had been told in a format like a typical film I would enjoy it, but I guess I wanted this to be something more personal and not so dramatic as to include a government ploy for weapons of mass destruction. Not sure how to explain it, really.
The film had moments where it jumped from typical found footage to the usual run of the mill action flick. Where sometimes it felt like you were watching a documentary, before you're suddenly thrust into a movie, so to speak. You know what I'm saying? It's like if you're watching a home video and then suddenly your family starts acting like they're in a Hollywood film.
The acting was pretty okay. It was sad, the fate of the three characters. Especially for Anderson. He pretty much has five different death scenes; you can watch the extra four or so in the bonus directory on the DVD. I couldn't watch the suffocation one, however; the end of the film was where things shifted from mockumentary into action flick, so I'm not sure, but I'd think I'd prefer one of his alt endings to the one given. Except the one where he's stabbed through the chest by an alien - that, again, looked too Hollywood, less found footage "subtle".
Last, but not least, the actual aliens themselves. Some people were highly disappointed, but I liked them. Spider-crab-aliens that resemble rocks and boulders. I was wondering when we'd see the aliens, because I wanted to know what they looked like compared to their environment. Making them the rock-like creatures, to me, seemed more fitting. I also like the little twist that comes with this idea - the aliens basically blended in with their surroundings because of their rock-like features. At the end of the movie, it gives a little wink wink nudge nudge at the fact 824 pounds of the moon was brought back to Earth and how a good handful of these moon rocks have disappeared, suggesting they were aliens. Not sure if they could survive on Earth, but who knows. (Though it may be possible, given a few scenes.)
I've a few questions regarding the aliens, however: I wonder if it's just a chemical in their body that causes an infectious reaction in humans, or if they release this type of toxin that poisons them instead. If they indeed injected the humans with some sort of venom, this would imply they have predators of some sort... Of course, this also means they (also) have prey, but you got to wonder what those things eat. Either way, having venom means they need it to survive in some way or another, so that could imply there's more lifeforms on the planet.
However, I kind of like to think the infection is caused by a reaction to their biology or chemicals. I figure they attacked the humans because they felt threatened; they didn't need food. Though the way Nate reacted, when infected, kind of seemed like they were sharing some sort of... bond? Though this could be chalked up to the infection - it did cause paranoid and aggressive behavior, probably with delusions and possibly heightened senses, too.
In the movie, you find out the machines the guys set up were used to call the creatures. I assume to attack/aggravate. Applied to their fictional version of continuity, this could imply the members of Apollo 11 were not attacked because they did not have those signals to call/aggravate the aliens. Or, I think, the Apollo 18 ship landed on the other side of the moon? Possibly suggesting the moon creatures live only in certain areas, or at least are not as prominent in the area where Apollo 11 landed.
I'd really like it if the movie makers or those behind the creation of the aliens would release a book or some sort explaining the alien species in detail, now that the movie has come and gone. I know the point is to remain mysterious and whatnot, but I'd still like to see if the creators had an entire biology and culture set up for these aliens, or if they just went "make them crab rock spiders". I like monsters, okay. :'(
So, all and all, I give the movie about a C. It was a bit tedious and not all that great, but I did like the weird little aliens, so... C- maybe.
