For a space mission that never happened, Apollo 18 has a
unique place in pop culture. It’s been the name of a record, a videogame, an
indie rock band, and less-than-stellar found footage horror movie. Now it’s the
subject of faux-documentary, The Landing, which screens at
the Seattle International Film Festival.
It feels like mockumentaries usually take the form of
Spinal Tap or FUBAR, where the cameras
follow the subjects doing whatever it is they do. The
Landing frames things more like a History Channel glimpse into the
past, with archival footage, interviews with survivors, news clippings, and
even reenactments. And for the most part, it pulls this stance off convincingly.
Some obvious PhotoShop and using Robert Pine from CHiPs—the
only recognizable face in the cast—are the biggest missteps, which crack the
otherwise convincing reality writer/directors Mark and David Dodson construct.
The story goes like this: in 1973, Apollo 18, the final
manned lunar landing, has trouble on reentry and lands in the Takla Makan
desert in the middle of China. Before rescue teams can arrive, two crew members
die under mysterious circumstances. 25 years later, The Landing
digs into the story, which grows increasingly outlandish as it goes. Some laud
pilot Bo Cunningham as a hero for being able to land the capsule at all, while
others claim he was on the communist payroll, landed in China on purpose, and
murdered the other two cosmonauts.
If The Landing was a real documentary, it
would make a compelling watch. And as a work of fiction, it’s not bad either.
It’s well structured, doling the mystery out over the course of the film, and
Cunningham evolves from heroic pilot to unlikable murder suspect. There’s
obviously not much of a budget, but it never feels cheap, and while the mystery
could be deeper, the film leaves the viewer to decide whether or not to buy
what it’s selling. [Grade: B+]
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