I really wanted to love this... but its a misfire.

I wanted to support this even though it got mixed reviews... an original epic-scale sci-fi movie on the big screen is a rarety these days. So I went.

It was... okay.

The good: It is trying to do something. It's got scale. It's got world-building. The cinematography is grand and some of the shots are seriously inspired. It's got some incredible effects (especially considering the budget). The effort is right there on the screen. A for effort.

The bad: Everything is very forced. As in "root for these guys and not these guys" forced. There should have been a slow build to that realization. You clearly know who the bad guys are - as in holding a gun at a dog's head clear. We get the main guy was in love because it flashes to scenes of him on a beach frolicking with his wife for what seems like forever. One or two small scenes with smart dialogue would have worked better to establish that and the characters.

I have to think there was another hour that got chopped up in the editing room, because this thing is so disjointed. Things just don't make sense. Characters just show up and don't get established enough to care when they leave. I absolutely never felt the bond the child had with the main guy, or vice versa. This was critical to the film and it didn't happen.

So much nitpicking... The action scenes are ok, but don't really make sense. Suddenly there are ground invasions, even though they have this spacecraft that can nuke places from orbit. Seriously, people are sitting there fishing and suddenly a huge tank the size of a football field rolls into frame. How is this not heard in a distance? They have this spaceship with zero protection, the same ship they say is critical to saving the human race but they seem to be destroying everyone just fine without it. A special ops squad drops into the darkness to infiltrate a base, but they have huge lights on their helmets showing their faces. There's a guy who all of Asia is looking for walking around with a kid and he doesn't even try to really disguise himself. Oh and suddenly this guy gets on a plane to fly to the MOON. Yeah, in the last 20 minutes you realize they colonized the moon. It's like the writer realized they needed a way to get the character into space to infiltrate the spaceship but there was no way to do it so they tossed that in. I got to think essential stuff is on the editing room floor.

A random stranger's opinion - Worth a rental on a big TV and I hope studios keep trying.