The Midnight Sky

Das Ende hat ein Herz, aber die ganze Handlung davor hat leider wenig Inhalt und ist in der Erwartung, dass die Zuschauer*innen etwas anspricht, leicht naiv. Eine der zwei spannenden Szenen wurde aus Gravity geklaut und die andere ist nicht originell. Wie fast alles im Film. Herausragend ist nur die interessante Auffassung von Blut im schwerelosen Raum und das Interieurdesign des Schiffs als Luxuswohnung von einem futuristischen Designer. Genau zwischen zwei und drei Sternen. (03.01.2021)

A good movie to complete this year’s Christmas atmosphere. A coronavirus wipes out the human race and the only hope is a newly discovered moon orbiting Jupiter. A cancer-ridden Clooney simply has to get to an antenna to contact a crew that is just returning from the moon, to tell them to return there. His journey through the frozen wasteland is pretty well filmed. The bits in space are also nicely filmed, but they are dumb as anything you could think of. The way they sing songs while flying through unmapped zones and sending the pregnant woman into space is an offense to all true sci-fi fans. The lesson at the end may be good, but could be expected. The ending wants to seem full of hope, but when you think about what the future holds for the rest of the protagonists, slash human kind, you’ll want to cry. (24.12.2020)

An attempt at intellectual sci-fi, where not much is said, time and life are lightly philosophised about, and the survival at the North Pole, or rather outside a space rocket, is relatively intense. At times pleasantly ambient and pensive, visually impressive, but script-wise mediocre and largely uninteresting science fiction, which not even Clooney can save. In the style of a brooding Solaris or Ad Astra. (26.12.2020)

In what way are (especially American) Christmas films distinguished? A major role in such films is played by a guy with a thick white beard who lives in the North Pole, diverse characters often come home from somewhere, it snows, and the main idea is not infrequently that the family should be together. So, The Midnight Sky is simply a Christmas film :) But now more seriously: It's a great film. And that it's not for everyone? All the better. In the riveting earthly part, George Clooney is the absolute king, in that space storyline, rather than on tension, he is focused on seemingly carefree enchantment by space, on the sweet ignorance that the film conveys to us perfectly. Yes, at first glance nothing important will happen in space, and for example, the long repair of the ship is a scene that we have all seen several of, but imagine that you are a viewer who hasn’t seen Gravity... Then that scene is simply a cosmic symphony with beautiful shots and amazing music by Alexandre Desplat. (24.12.2020)

For me, unfortunately, one of the most boring big movies in recent years. I don’t know why someone smart like Clooney would want to waste time adapting such a weak plot, and I really can’t see why anyone should justify his efforts. The story could have been packed into 30 minutes without any harm being done – there weren’t even as many nice images as I expected. Emotions and psychology at freezing point, enough said. (27.12.2020)