Moon Is Some Damn Good Sci-Fi
Moon, the directorial debut of Duncan Jones (son of David Bowie), stars Sam Rockwell (Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Matchstick Men) as Sam Bell. In the near future, private enterprises from Japan contract people to work three year missions on the moon to mine rocks that can be used for clean energy back on earth. Sam is nearing the end of one of these missions, aided by his trusted robot GERTY (voiced sardonically by Kevin Spacey), and has been out of communication with earth for months. He passes the time play playing ping-pong (in an interesting manner), chilling with GERTY, and talking to himself. Very early on in the movie, Jones throws the audience a curve ball. Ironically, the “twist” we’ve been shown in the trailer occurs in the first 20 minutes or so. Like other great sci-fi, Moon addresses a serious contemporary issue, but talking about it would give away the initial twist. If you’ve seen it, or don’t care about spoilers, let’s talk it out in the comments section.
But that’s the great thing about Moon: it’s a movie with a twist, but it’s not defined by its twist. There’s a helluva lot more going on here and I think it’s honestly one of those movies that sci-fi fans wish a mainstream audience would watch, so we can say “see, this is what it’s about.” But of course, that never really happens though because “smart sci-fi” equals “unattractiv” at the box office.
As always, Sam Rockwell is terrific. All Hitchhiker’s Guides aside – I somehow feel like that shit-show wasn’t his fault – this dude has never not delivered. NJ film critic Steve Whitty once stated that Rockwell:
…has long been one of our most interesting and unpredictable performers (he was the actor George Clooney cast in “Confessions of a Dangerous Mind” and, sometimes I think, the actor Brad Pitt wants to be)…
Moon supports this statement as Rockwell is in every scene and has to present a plethora of emotions. Spacey was almost too much as the voice of GERTY; as disdainful as the majority of his lines were, I couldn’t help thinking, “oh, there’s Kevin Spacey again.” But Rockwell delivers a bold and brash performance as lonely astronaut Sam Bell that will most certainly be overlooked by the Academy.
Duncan Jones (above, next to his old man) made the most of his indie budget and created a minimalist sci-fi film that was both beautiful and weathered. His next project, Mute, will be $25 million futuristic gangster film inspired by Blade Runner. Yes, please.
- Oh Mars
July 5th, 2009 at 10:11 pm
I loved moon. On one hand, it was a loving throwback to those more psychological scifi films of the 1970′s – like Silent Running or Solaris (hell, Bowie Jr. had the same special effect guys from the former). But on the other hand it doesn’t dwell in the homage/ripoff territory, doing something really original. You are right that Rockwell…well…Rocks in this role (about damn time he got a leading part). This could not be more apparent than in his interactions with *spoilers* his clone. Its a really interesting approach to exploring the inner psychology of someone that could had easily failed miserably if not in the hands of the right actor. I hear that Moon was the first part of an intended trilogy, I look forward to the sequels.
July 5th, 2009 at 11:00 pm
where can I see this?? It’s not in any theatres near me :(
July 6th, 2009 at 4:26 am
@Jarshy Here’s the list of theaters it’s currently playing at and ones it will be getting at:
http://www.sonypictures.com/classics/moon/dates.html
July 6th, 2009 at 11:31 am
Alright i’m really excite dto see this now. This is the sort of Sci-Fi I love!
Oh Mars: Have you ever seen Sunshine?
July 6th, 2009 at 12:32 pm
@Crook: Yeah, I loved it. It took me two viewings to really soak it all in.
July 6th, 2009 at 1:31 pm
Dudes, Sunshine was really bad. If anything it was a testament to how the entire sci-fi genre in film is unable to escape 2001′s sphere of influence. Though intrigued about Moon (the trailer is awesome) I have the feeling this is another “2001 lite.” And isn’t it kinda suspect that every time you hear about his next film, “Blade Runner” is always mentioned?
July 6th, 2009 at 1:49 pm
Corbluth: Sunshine is a very traditional Sci-Fi tale in the tradition of Bradbury… save for the last 20 minutes it was great. Also i think Blade Runner sucked
July 6th, 2009 at 1:58 pm
(ignoring your Blade Runner comment)
Speaking of Bradbury, this destroys Sunshine:
July 6th, 2009 at 2:11 pm
(Also ignoring the Blade Runner comment)
The last 20 minutes is what made me have to rewatch Sunshine.
It’s always raining on Venus. I’ve never seen this, Cornbluth. Awesome.
July 6th, 2009 at 2:32 pm
Maybe sucked was too strong of a word. How about just overrated.
July 6th, 2009 at 2:36 pm
That works. I still bought the $90 “briefcase edition.”
Even if smart sci-fi movies are drowning in 2001 influences, I’d rather see pseudo-copycats than just plain shit.
July 7th, 2009 at 11:18 am
Well it depends on the cut of Blade Runner. I never liked the original with Harrison Ford’s contractually obligated narration.
I love Sunshine too, though while I think the last 20 minutes kind of ruin the film, I have no idea how else it could had ended
July 7th, 2009 at 11:37 am
I saw the director’s cut before I saw the original with narration. It’s so obvious how much he was against it. And don’t they make Roy Batty Deckard’s brother in the end?
The international cut still has the narration, but the enhanced violence sort of makes up for it.