Moon

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Moon

Friday, July 31, 2009

The Moon is a pretty durned mysterious place, all dusty and big. Wouldn't it be funny if the little guys on the "dark side" of the Moon were making a sci-fi movie about the dangerous beasts and creatures that reside on Earth? "Planet Earth", they could call it.

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Mason
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Movies

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Moon (2009 film)

Many of us have seen Kubrick's sci-fi masterpiece, 2001: A Space Odyssey, which has heavily influenced quite a few films. Now, Duncan Jones presents us with Moon, something obviously under the influence of Kubrick's brilliant film. However, similarities aside, Moon uses different techniques and a stylish approach that certainly sets aside any of the normal sci-fi clichés seen over the years. Moon is an intricate jumble of consistent pondering, captivating suspense, and highly entertaining.

We follow Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell) who is an astronaut on a three year contract with a little company called Lunar. Also, much like in Kubrick's work, there is another talking computer! But this time, Kevin Spacey is doing the voice! How freakin' awesome is that? I mean the guy who did that really really good movie last year, 21. Side note, Kevin Spacey's best performance? American Beauty. Anyways, his name in the film is GERDY, and he looks out for the "best interest" of Sam, and is also Sam's only source of communication whatsoever. Sooner or later, he does start to question his sanity. After crashing one of his "space-vechicles" two days before he is supposed to leave, we are taken into strange territory.

Sam Rockwell may play the role of his career in Duncan Jones' Moon; interactions with himself that carry such emotional depth and authenticity. Sam Rockwell is a one-man show. After Rockwell finds well, Rockwell, crashed in the vehicle, he takes him into the space station, where we learn quite a bit. If that's not disorienting enough, we find out that the company he works for, Lunar, may have been colonizing astronauts, and quite possibly Sam Rockwell for quite some time.

For debut director Duncan Jones, I can safely say that is a full on success. The film explores loneliness, and mostly dehumanization while offering and exploiting disbelief. I know that this low budget 'sci-fi' will have its way with anyone who is in love with the genre, while offering new and innovative ways to distingush itself from others, which should attract alternative demographics. There is visceral tension and an underlying mystery that looms in the air of Moon, and ultimately leaves you questioning whether or not you fully understood the message. I would put this on a list of top sci-fi films to be released in the last 10 years. Moon philosophically challenges the viewer to answer that most fundamental of questions: Who am I?

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