In the future according to Moon, aliens have not come to annihilate us, machines have not turned against humanity and meteorites are not on a collision course with the White House. Instead, the single biggest threat facing the hero is himself. In other words, Moon is the kind sci-fi film you rarely see any more; subtle and intelligent. Consider it the binary opposite of recent sci-fi offerings like Transformers 2, which on paper sounds like the highest praise imaginable. However, when you take into account that the opposite of ‘too much’ is ‘too little’, you’ll begin to understand where Moon falters.

As a film with more brains than brawn, Moon is evidently not a product of Hollywood. Instead, the credits lie with British director Duncan Jones, who for those playing at home, is better known as the son of David Bowie. You wouldn’t know this was Jones’ feature debut; Moon is extremely well polished, despite its shoestring budget, and features an outstanding near-solo performance from Sam Rockwell. It’s a throwback to highbrow speculative fiction films like 2001 A Space Odyssey, Silent Running, Blade Runner and even GATTACA. These films are few and far between nowadays, the last film to even come close to joining the ranks being WALL-E.

Moon, much like WALL-E, excels in it’s first half hour before the story even takes shape. It concerns Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell), a solitary employee of Lunar Industries’ moon station, who oversees the harvesting of Helium-3 energy from the moons soil, now the world’s primary source of energy. Back on Earth, Sam’s wife Tess and newborn daughter Eve eagerly await his return as downed communications on the space station has limited their interaction.  As such, Sam’s sanity is maintained by a railed, schmaltzily-voiced robot named GERTY (Kevin Spacey) – think Marvin the Paranoid Android on opposite day. Nearing the end of his contract, Sam starts to experience hallucinations, causing him to crash his Land Rover into a Helium-3 harvester. He wakes up safe in the infirmary shortly after, but the question is, how’d he get there?

The setup is as unnerving as it is mesmerising, sold by Sam Rockwell’s compelling, humorous and  human performance. Despite the seemingly sterile styling of the space station, up close, it’s a lived-in environment; GERTY is covered in coffee stains, yellow post-it notes are stuck to control panels and clothes litter Sam’s bedroom floor. It’s these kinds of subtleties that initially immerses the viewer in Sam’s world, making us feel every part as isolated from humanity as he. Without ever forcing it down our throat, the film engages cerebrally with it’s speculative nature, ultimately leaving us to question what it means to be human.

Yet the initial brilliance of Moon is lost to a second half that struggles to reach a climax. Once the burning question is answered,  the meekness of the story becomes all too apparent as we realise there’s not all that much left to ponder.  While Nathan Parker’s screenplay is far from a one trick pony, it seems to make a conscious  effort to be as anticlimactic as possible, favouring mood over momentum. This leisurely tempo is perpetuated by the deliberate, yet frustrating, long takes; too often it felt as though we’re watching  Sam move about from room to room in real time. While I’m glad the film doesn’t follow the likes of District 9 or Sunshine and go out on a violent, CGI-assisted bang,  Moon goes so far in the other direction, it slowly ceases to be entertaining.

Verdict:

Perhaps if it had been a half hour shorter, or had a bit more scope, Duncan Jones’ debut would have rocketed its way into the sci-fi hall of fame. But as it stands,  Moon gets stuck on the launch pad to greatness.

- Review originally posted September 15, 2009.

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