Film rating: 4/5 (Scott); 3.5/5 (John Surname)
Walkouts: 0/5
Pretentious clapping at credits: 4/5
BPM sighting: Yes
The directorial debut of Duncan Jones (son of David Bowie), this claustrophobic sci-fi feature stars Sam Rockwell and the voice of Kevin Spacey.
Heralding a fresh renaissance in indie sci-fi flicks, Moon eschews big budget CGI effects for slow-burn combustible tension, telling the story of a man on a solo mission on the moon who begins to suffer hallucinations, as he succumbs to the isolation and monotony of his assignment.
An intimate character portrayal in a starkly impersonal outer space setting, Moon is a claustrophobic drama that harkens back to classic sci-fi of 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Scott says: Moon is an atmospheric study of life, death, isolation and human desire. Set to a cracking soundtrack that perfectly creates a mood to match the action, and featuring an excellent performance by solo actor Sam Rockwell, Moon lets us imagine the nature of space exploration in the near-ish future and prompts us to question what the implications are for humans’ needs.
The director mostly lets viewers discover plot twists on their own, although a few are rammed home a little too obviously. Once the major twist is revealed the film plays out a touch too predictably at times, but enough mystery is retained to command your attention until the conclusion which is mercifully free of an overblown and trite Hollywood ending.
Moon is a film that will make you look inside and question your own emotions, needs and desires.
** SPOILER ALERT — READ NO FURTHER IF YOU DON’T WANT TO KNOW PLOT **
John Surname says: Moon is an 80’s style low-budget sci-fi film set, mysteriously, on the Moon. Sam Bell is employed by Lunar Enterprises to harvest helium to produce fusion power for earth with only a robot named H.A.L GERTY for company. With two weeks to go until his three year contract is up Sam has an accident which puts into motion a series of events that will change his life forever.
Want to know more?
…..
HE’S A CLONE.
A MOTHERFUCKING CLONE.
This film should have been called CLONES IN SPACE, or even better, CLONES IN SPACE IV: CLONES IN LOVE.
As it stands Moon is a very impressive debut from Zowie Bowie Duncan Jones who manages to conjure up the isolation a helium miner would probably feel being so far from home. As the film progresses, Sam pines for his wife on Earth, and for memories which aren’t even really his. The appearance of the clone, however, screws everything up royally as he slowly realises that he is a creation of the corporation which employs him in the first place.
In story terms the plot isn’t particularly complex – once you have the clone information figured out it’s quite obvious which way the film is heading. The unexplained benevolence of GERTY is a surprise – perhaps the screenwriter thought an evil computer would be too close to H.A.L for comfort, but H.A.L had story reasons for the way he acted. GERTY does not which causes some confusion as to why a robot would act this way – saying he’s programmed to “help” isn’t enough. Surely LUNAR INC would have programmed him to watch the valuable clone at all costs?
Well, I hope they learned their lesson!
The film takes numerous visual clues from 2001 and Silent Runnings but doesn’t quite stand with either of them. What I did enjoy was the excellent atmosphere built around the moon base, and the personal tension between the clones (despite lame comedic moments).
I give this film 3.5/5
Final question: if Sam’s clones have the same strength as each other, how can one win a fight?
THINK ABOUT THAT.
