When it comes to rom-coms set in a science-fiction setting, good ones are hard to find. Combining the typical dystopian world of the near-to-distant future with the light-hearted tones of a romantic comedy can be a difficult mix to get right. In the moderately declining world of Moonshot, people are now living on Mars. An Elon Musk type named Leon Kovi (Zach Braff) has his own program that students can apply to live and work on Mars, and the wealthy can simply purchase a million-dollar ticket and hitch a ride on the rocket into the heavens.

On Earth, the growing piles of refuse and garbage seem to be the main issue. Lana Condor's Sophie is a no-nonsense studious college student who is trying to figure out how to save Earth from its trash problem while her boyfriend Calvin (Mason Gooding) and his family are on Mars where Calvin is working on a project for Leon Kovi. Then we have Cole Sprouse's Walt, who is a hopeless romantic and a barista. He's changed his major dozens of times, taken on literally a hundred loans, desperately trying to apply to the Kovi program that will take him to Mars, eager to have his great adventure. But he's low in the food chain both financially and intellectually (seriously, multiple people call this guy stupid multiple times, including Sophie) so his chances are slim-to-none.

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Image via Warner Bros. Pictures

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The meet-cute happens when Walt bumps into Sophie at a party where she is video calling Calvin. Walt spots the fact that he is on Mars and his interest is piqued. There is no real connection with Sophie, at best she finds him incredibly annoying, and he breaks a gizmo of hers that helps her communicate with Calvin. Walt then later meets a girl named Ginny (Emily Rudd), who he immediately falls for. They spend a night together talking and connecting before she reveals in the morning that she's going to Mars.

Cut to about a month later, and Ginny isn't texting Walt back anymore, and he's getting concerned. On top of that, his application to go to Mars is rejected. He runs into Sophie again, but this time he manages to convince her to buy a ticket to Mars to meet her boyfriend despite her fear of flying — yes, Sophie is super-rich, no, it is never really addressed after this. Knowing she's going to Mars, Walt takes advantage of Sophie and tricks her into letting him walk with her past security, so he can see the rocket launch up close when really he intends to stow away on the ship and live in the air ducts.

Hijinks ensue and soon the two are trapped on a rocket together with a month of time to get to know each other. On paper, the idea of forced proximity in a rom-com is one of the classic tropes. Two people who don't like each other are forced to spend time with each other and through that time they begin to understand and empathize with one another, eventually even falling in love. The problem with Moonshot is that the chemistry required to pull off this trope is just not there. There needs to be a charged energy between the two people. Sophie and Walt don't really have great banter, they don't seem physically attracted to each other initially, and it may even take a bit too long for the two to warm to each other to be convincing.

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That's not to say that Condor or Sprouse were poor choices for their individual roles. Condor is actually a perfect fit for Sophie, a detail-oriented, nerdy-and-brilliant young woman who aspires to help Earth but also feels desperate to go to Mars to join the only family she's ever known. Sprouse is also a good fit for Walt, who has a laid-back energy but also is a romantic. He always has his head in the clouds, keeps a journal titled Adventures & Other Things, and seems to be the type of guy to fly by the seat of his pants. The problem is, these two characters never really grow beyond the limits of their archetype. Their story is cookie-cutter in how it approaches Sophie and Walt, which makes for a rather uninspired story.

Despite an uncreative script, the production value of Moonshot does manage to be somewhat pleasing. The sleek futuristic design of the spaceship is all curvy lines and neon lights. Condor and Sprouse are often bathed in neon purple and pink lights, the perfect mood lighting for falling in love. The ship's inhabitants are in dodger blue matching space suits, and it makes for a very candy-colored future. Given the light nature of the movie, it makes sense to have such an aesthetically pleasing future, one where not a spec of grit or grime is found. Even the trash floating around the campus seems relatively clean.

Ultimately, there's very little to write home about when it comes to Moonshot. It's something to pop on and watch in the background which is hardly complimentary. But there is never a moment when you're swept away by the romance of Walt and Sophie and that should be the point of all of this. Walt and Sophie develop a connection, but the bond never goes deep enough for us to care. Much like Walt's own short-lived relationship with Ginny, there's a shallowness that never reveals its depth. There are mentions of a sad past, a potentially corrupt present, the complexity of family dynamics, but they're never more than just passing comments or plot devices. At the end of the day, Moonshot is a failure to launch once you get beyond the shiny packaging of futuristic neon.

Rating: C-

Moonshot premieres on HBO Max on March 31.