Review - Moon
Ooooh, this is an odd one.
A solitary worker operates a moon base which is the hub for a Helium-3 farming operation at a time when Helium-3, provided by the Lunar Corporation, has solved Earth’s fuel problems. His only company is a computer/robot with the voice of Kevin Spacey and a display that conveys its ‘emotions’ by means of emoticons. The worker/astronaut is approaching the end of his three year contract when he starts to experience odd visions, leading him to have an accident while out in a vehicle on the lunar surface.
He wakes up back at the base and with missing memories. The computer is behaving oddly, and tries to confine him to the base. When he finally gets out he finds the crashed vehicle, which contains a survivor…
What the FUCK, to coin a phrase, is going on?
Moon is a strange one to be sure: part suspense movie, part metaphysical exploration of the nature of identity and free will, possibly parts of other things too. It’s a film that at the time of watching I found pretty engaging, but on leaving the cinema had a discussion with my two companions that had us highlighting all the gaping plot holes and glaring inconsistencies and realising that maybe I hadn’t been as impressed with it as I’d thought. Really, there are a lot of problems with the plot that are just glossed over, even though the script appears to understand that they exist. Director and Storywriter Duncan Jones (the artist formerly known as Zowie Bowie) doesn’t, in truth, help his cause by giving proceedings a ponderous feel and telegraphing most of the key plot points well before a reveal would give them more impact. One of my fellow viewers was entirely scathing of the whole enterprise, and was incapable of understanding why we didn’t all just get up and walk out.
The fact that I didn’t has to be largely because of the performance which Sam Rockwell turns in as the lead. The entire film is carried on his shoulders, and he completely engaged me, letting me overlook the film’s problems.
It was only afterwards, when I didn’t have him in front of me to divert my attention, that all the problems which definitely exist with the film became a little too clear in my head to ignore. It’s worth seeing for an interesting premise and a great performance, but be prepared to be scratching your head over a series of “But…” moments once you leave the cinema.