'Operation Avalanche' A Review

Operation Avalanche is a faux-documentary thriller depicting the faked moon landing conspiracy. A group of  four CIA audio visual nerds come off an assignment assessing the threat level of Stanley Kubrick and wind up being assigned to investigate a suspected Russian mole at NASA. Our four heroes lead by Matt(played by writer/director Matt Johnson) discover NASA doesn't have the technology to pull of the moon landing so begin shooting footage to assist in an international deception.

Although energetic writer/director and lead Johnson is so goofy and harmless he undermines the tension he attempts to create. The acting overall is somewhat minimal the focus being more on the technique and the plot. There is a lack of depth and nuance to almost every performance perhaps because the film is, deliberately, rough around the edges. Even so the relatively rudimentary acting doesn't really detract from the overall experience.

What's most compelling about the film is its cinematography, either actually using 8mm, 16mm, and 35mm camera's or digitally recreating those various camera's effects the images themselves create a rich and transportive experience. It's clear that Johnson loves movies, making movies, and the history of movies and that excitement and joy comes through in the extremely varied and elegant construction of the film. He's not much of an actor but he is one hell of a filmmaker.

The plot itself is a bit unclear and silly but the filmmaking technique and the energy(if not the talent) of the cast propel this rough and exciting indie.

Rent It.