Before I start my review I wanted to make sure I am being transparent, I was contacted through the site and asked if I would do a review of Moon. After a bit of back and forth I received a DVD copy and watched it over the weekend. I don’t think people reading the site would appreciate bias though, so I was certain I was going to call it like it was, I wouldn’t pull any punches if it was bad, but to my relief I enjoyed the film.
Moon tells the story of solitary employee, Sam Bell (played by Sam Rockwell), based on the moon overseeing a largely automated Helium-3 mining operation that supplies 70% of the world with clean energy. Sam is coming to the end of his three-year contract, during which he has had only a semi-mobile AI computer called Gerty (voiced by Kevin Spacey) for company and, due to satellite problems, his only communication with the outside world (no pun intended) has been through taped video messages to his superiors and his wife and young daughter back on Earth.
Sam starts to see things, and while out visiting a harvester he loses concentration when he thinks he sees someone standing on the lunar surface and he crashes. He wakes up in the infirmary. He doesn’t remember the accident and when Gerty finally lets him go back outside he finds a survivor in the wreckage, himself. He drags the old Sam back to the base and Gerty patches him up.
As the old and the new Sam try to come to terms with this discovery they’re not sure what to make of each other or their situation.
Director Duncan Jones has mentioned his influences include ‘classic’ sci-fi films such as Alien and 2001: A Space Odyssey and that is evident in both the plot and design of the film. Gerty draws obvious comparisons with HAL 9000 in 2001, with Spacey providing an emotionless monotone that, combined with emoticons shown on a small display, only serve to widen the gap between human and machine despite Gerty’s human-esque phrases and concern for Sam’s well-being.
It’s probably worth mentioning at this point that the film was made with a budget of $5 million (no doubt with a lot of deferred fees). To make a film on that budget and get a cinema release is an achievement. To give you an idea, Cloverfield and District 9 had estimated budgets of around $30 million. Horror movies, set in a contemporary setting are the more common fodder for this budget. Saw is an example, Shaun of the Dead was about the same money, we’re also in Jackass: The Movie territory, to give you an idea. What you do not make on that kind of money is a Science Fiction film. Transformers 2 cost $210 million and it doesn’t top the list. So you’ve got to give the film-makers credit for even attempting this. They followed the low-budget rules though, sticking to as few actors (I count eight if you include Spacey) and locations as possible, but it doesn’t detract from the story.
In fact, the lack of money doesn’t show on the screen, it doesn’t appear cheap, the sets don’t look like something out of Space: 1999. The look is obviously derived from the ‘60s vision of the future, being largely antiseptic, white and minimalist, again, an obvious reference to 2001, although not a million miles away from something you would see from NASA (on the outside at least, they’re not usually so slick on the inside). That said, they have shunned the recent trend of making the future look like we all fell into an Apple advert, surrounded by bright, shiny white surfaces and transparent touch-screen monitors (see Star Trek amongst others). In order to balance this out they’ve also added little touches, like furry dice in the rover, but the sparse use makes the base seem even more isolated. This is a mining station and the utilitarian nature carries through into the design ethic. It makes a refreshing change.
The film was written for Sam Rockwell though, and he is definitely the star of the show. Having to play the same character at different points of their lives in the same scene with only yourself has got to have been a challenge. At no point do you get the feeling he’s talking to a stand-in though, the multiple performances being seamless and Rockwell portrays the different versions of Sam Bell as both obviously different and yet rooted in the same past, creating characters that are both unique and similar at the same time. He does a good job of drawing you in and keeping your attention.
Featuring, largely, just one character and being based in an isolated location does mean the movie is leisurely, which is a nice way of putting it’s slow. It’s not an action movie anyway, and not every movie should be, but the story seems slow to get to some of the beats and the ending just sort of limps over the line when there is an obvious opportunity to inject some conflict or, at least, some emotion. It also seems to try too hard to reverse expected stereotypes and the twist is foreshadowed so much it’s not much of a surprise when it comes. In an age where there seems to be an unofficial competition around who can fit the most cuts into 60 seconds, the more reverent pace will probably mean the ADHD infected, text-addicted, twitterfied bulk of the movie-going audience simply won’t find enough to pull their attention away from their phones. This is a film for those who are prepared to show a bit of patience. 2001 stunned the audience with what were mind-blowing effects at the time, they kept the audience engaged while it edged through the plot, Moon doesn’t have that luxury.
That’s not to say you shouldn’t watch it. It’s an interesting look at human-nature and isolation and also a nice statement on how technology may move on, but humans will remain inherently the same come what may. It asks questions about what it is that makes us human and suggests that it’s not machines we need to fear, it’s ourselves. The same things will still drive, motivate and worry us. It’s also quite nice to see some film-makers who seem not only to know the science, but are actually interested in it (the film was shown at NASA in a special screening).
So it’s not an edge-of-your-seat thrill ride which is what Hollywood seems determined to serve us and is so sure is all we want, which makes Moon a refreshing change. It takes a different approach to showing us the future and questions what our place will be in it. It actually reminded me of the Vengeance Trilogy (Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Oldboy, Sympathy for Lady Vengeance) by Chan-wook Park, with a similar philosophical look at the human condition. I’d recommend it.
Moon is released on Blu-Ray and DVD on the 16th of October, you can find out more about the film at the official website.
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