Moon (2009)
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Moon Movie Review
Moon is a 2009 hard science fiction film directed by Duncan Jones and starring Sam Rockwell. It’s one of the best genre films of all time.
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“Gerty, we’re not programmed.
We’re people, do you understand?“
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It follows a man on a three-year job on the far side of the Moon mining helium. He eventually comes across one of his clones and realizes that the people who sent him made multiple clones of him so that they can reduce the cost of human life and expenditures. But the clones are real human beings so this ended up being highly unethical and the protagonist eventually manages to escape to Earth and raises that question of unethical things that are happening on the Moon.
I loved that ending where we hear those interviews and shows, but those are not shown as it’s unnecessary and I got the gist of it all. It’s a sophisticated scene in a highly intelligent movie as a whole which is actually immensely original in its overall storyline. Yes, the audio-visuals, the robot and some imagery are reminiscent of ‘2001’ and the overall human drama aspect is influenced by ‘Solaris’, but the plot itself is highly authentic and unique.
It explores what it means to be human in a classic, hard science fiction manner. The clones are basically portrayed as being entirely human just as their human counterparts and although the people from Earth who are using them are not using real humans, they are still using clones who are basically the same versions of one man and that obviously raises a great question of whether or not that is ethic or right.
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The movie’s first half is somewhat slow, but still very involving to me because it features a plethora of important details and it’s a perfect example of a terrific slow build as the build-up is so well crafted that the second half is all the more potent for it. Yes, I absolutely loved the thrilling scenes of the second half and a very intense and exciting third act.
The movie succeeds as a really well imagined mystery which envelops so well and nothing is spelled out too much for the audience. I understood everything and I really liked how ambiguous it was at first that he might be experiencing loneliness and hallucinations, but later on it becomes a full-on science fiction tale about clones, humanity, but also loneliness and the conflict between emotions and professionalism/humanity and authoritarian coldness.
I can get why the Academy chose now to nominate this film for Best Picture as they have already nominated two other sci-fi flicks that year ‘Avatar’ and ‘District 9’, but both are so much weaker than this one that it’s ridiculous how they dismissed it. However, what is even more shameful is their ignoring of Sam Rockwell. Yes, his performance here was quite possibly the best one of that year as he had to play a very demanding role where he played the protagonist and his clone at the same time and a range of emotions and the different physical conditions of the two. He pulled all of it off and impressed me how amazing he was.
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The protagonist is a terrific character and I really felt for him and his yearning of his wife and newborn kid. That scene where he realizes that many years have passed on Earth is one of the most heartbreaking parts of the film. But I also hugely appreciated GERTY who at a first glimpse seemed too similar to HAL, but eventually ended up being quite opposite.
The humans here and those in charge are really the real villains whereas the robot actually helped Sam and wanted him to be happy, even if that meant going against his orders from Earth. That hint that he developed either emotions or a moral center was another very intriguing moment in a film full of riveting and mysterious sequences.
Having in mind that it cost only 5 million to make, Moon truly looks impressive. The score is pleasantly classical and I just loved the music here. The score is intense when it needs to be and poetic when the imagery demands. But the satellite itself looks beautiful and very realistic, I loved that helium extraction machine and of course the interior of the facility itself looks phenomenal with great interior work, designs and tech.
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The movie is impressively detailed, highly realistic in its depiction of the future and the Moon and overall both sophisticated and emotional in its approach. It serves as a strong moral and human drama as well. It’s thus one of the year’s finest films and a classic of the genre for sure. The direction from Duncan Jones is also superb and he showed amazing potential here.
Sophisticated and also quite poignant, Moon is one of the finest examples of a strong, very clever and original hard science fiction filmmaking with one truly impressive performance from Sam Rockwell in demanding, very interesting roles. The concept is highly unique and so well explored in a morally complex, thematically very interesting and in imagery and plot points very intriguing take on the idea of human clones. It’s thus one of the greatest science fiction films ever made.
