Fly Me to the Moon
Sony Pictures Releasing | Release Date: July 12, 2024 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
53
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 49 Critic Reviews
Positive:
19
Mixed:
25
Negative:
5
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
The Observer (UK)Wendy IdeJul 15, 2024
Part of the problem is that while Johansson is deliciously minxy and manipulative as Kelly, the usually likable Tatum has all the charisma of a carpet tile in this clenched-jawed, buttoned-up role. Read full review
60
New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriJul 12, 2024
Not quite a history lesson and not quite a rom-com and certainly not an epic, the movie is a mild but pleasant mishmash of genres held together by the sheer charisma of Channing Tatum and Scarlett Johansson, two actors who seem unexpectedly well suited to each other’s energies. Read full review
60
IGNA.A. Dowd Jul 11, 2024
The subplot involving the production of a simulated, backup lunar expedition never quite takes off, comedically speaking, but there’s plenty of appeal in pairing an uncommonly bubbly Scarlett Johansson with an agreeably earnest Channing Tatum. Read full review
60
Total FilmKate StablesJul 9, 2024
Despite leaving its love affair on the launch pad, this sassy NASA romcom fulfils its mission to entertain. Read full review
60
Time OutWhelan BarzeyJul 9, 2024
Even with its two A-list stars as jet boosters, Fly Me To The Moon’s bloated runtime and messy plotting mean that it doesn’t quite make it beyond the Kármán line. Then again, the art of the formulaic romcom isn’t rocket science. Houston, we have a likeable, if somewhat forgettable romcom – and that’s okay. Read full review
60
The TelegraphTim RobeyJul 9, 2024
Match-making two stars with the natural zing of Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum ought to be a breeze. It’s funny, then, that this 1960s space-race caper specifically fails at being a romcom, because the “rom” keeps dragging us back to Earth. Read full review
58
IndieWireRyan LattanzioJul 9, 2024
Zippy at first with the charisma and verve of a Doris Day/Rock Hudson movie, before it way outstretches its welcome across multiple encores and a 132-minute running time, Fly Me to the Moon has the patina of a straight-to-streaming movie tossed into theaters due to a backend deal or to appease filmmakers. Read full review
52
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Barry HertzJul 11, 2024
The film spins off into several tonally unsteady directions. Read full review
50
ObserverRex ReedJul 15, 2024
At a sorry time when most movies are about nothing, Fly Me to the Moon, a rom-com set in the chaos and cross purposes of the heroic Apollo 11 moon landing, deserves attention because even though it is a sad, silly, over-produced disappointment, at least it’s about something. Not very much, I’m afraid, but something. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesGary GoldsteinJul 15, 2024
The inevitable head-butting, sexually tense banter between the super-serious (and frankly dull) Cole and the vivacious, near-magically-capable Kelly never quite takes off, nor, surprisingly, does the chemistry between the two leads. Read full review
50
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliJul 12, 2024
Fly Me to the Moon isn’t a complete failure to launch (thanks primarily to the not-inconsiderable charisma and energy Johansson brings to the production) but neither does it have the thrust to make it into orbit. Read full review
50
RogerEbert.comChristy LemireJul 11, 2024
Tonally messy and overlong, director Greg Berlanti’s film ultimately squanders the considerable charms of its A-list stars, Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum, who are individually appealing but have zero chemistry with each other. Read full review
50
The New YorkerRichard BrodyJul 11, 2024
The pieces are clever enough that the film is rarely boring—it keeps a viewer hoping that the spark of life will strike sometime before the lights go up. But it’s not to be: it remains a movie in search of an animating spirit. Read full review
50
The Seattle TimesMoira MacdonaldJul 11, 2024
Someday, someone will pair up Johansson and Tatum in a better movie. In the meantime, watch this one with low expectations, and dream. Read full review
50
The New York TimesGlenn KennyJul 11, 2024
As the movie progresses, its story grows convoluted and belabored. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsJul 11, 2024
The script never quite feels itself; it feels like contradictory impulses playing out in shuffle mode. And the scale of the movie does the putative romance no favors. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubCindy WhiteJul 10, 2024
Unless you can put aside everything you know about the space program, government, advertising, and television broadcasting, you may spend a good deal of the film’s two-hour runtime frustrated by its plot holes and contrivances. Read full review
50
New York PostJohnny OleksinskiJul 9, 2024
Director Greg Berlanti’s romantic comedy, which imagines that Richard Nixon’s administration really did film a fake, backup moon landing in 1969, is a mystifying misfire all along the way from initial concept to end credits. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineJake ColeJul 9, 2024
Fly Me to the Moon’s sudden shift toward the weighty throws off the pace of what had been a formulaic but charming rom-com, as the heavy-handed look at both Cole’s and Kelly’s past demons fails to mesh cohesively with the antic silliness that preceded it. Read full review
50
The Daily BeastNick SchagerJul 9, 2024
Aiming for the stars, it proves a laborious affair that rarely gets off the ground. Read full review
40
The Irish TimesTara BradyJul 12, 2024
This underpowered, $100-million-budgeted space oddity was originally intended for streaming. And it shows. Read full review
40
SlateDana StevensJul 11, 2024
Fly Me to the Moon’s foundational silliness could have been compensated for, and maybe even turned into the premise for a lightweight but charming romance, if not for two things: the failure to grapple with the larger historical implications of the fake-moon-landing subplot, and the fatal miscasting of Johansson and Tatum as oil-and-water opposites. Read full review
40
Rolling StoneDavid FearJul 10, 2024
Given the talent involved, Fly Me to the Moon should be the stratospheric answer to our summer-movie prayers. Instead, it can barely get off the ground. Read full review
40
EmpireIana MurrayJul 9, 2024
Greg Berlanti’s revisionist comedy offers a fresh take on the Apollo 11 moon landing, but its convoluted conspiracy fails to capitalise on the charms of Johansson and Tatum’s workplace romance. Read full review
40
The GuardianPeter BradshawJul 9, 2024
Here the romance and adventure of the actual Apollo 11 achievement are undermined for a smirking, tonally jarring non-laugh. Read full review
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