Moon - A

Quick Hit: Great Science Fiction – with a great star, a great voice actor, and even greater special effects.

​Great science fiction films seem to come around more often than they used to. This may be due to the fact that Hollywood realized they could make money off of them, but it is almost never the huge budget blockbusters that stick with me. Instead, it’s the smaller pictures that resonate (Primer, District 9). Moon is one of those films.

​Reportedly shot in only around a month, and with a small budget by Hollywood standards, it’s clear that a major influence in those who worked on the film was Kubrick’s masterpiece 2001 A Space Odyssey. And while this movie never attains that status, it more than holds its own among great science fiction pieces. The stark white set pieces and delightfully intelligent robot are obvious, but there is also the style the film is shot

– slow tracking shots outside the ship, with more typical ones inside. There’s a distinct beauty in the practical effects that show that CGI is way overused in our world.

​​It’s hard to talk about Moon without giving too much away – to state that there are spoilers is a great

 understatement. I think that the best way to watch this film is to know as little about it as possible, and go into it with a clean slate.  Sam Rockwell, who stars as Sam 

Bell, is a worker finishing out his three year tour on the moon. He is obviously tired of being there and being alone, with only delayed video clips from home to watch (the long range coms are broken). Sam Rockwell does a great job throughout the movie, bringing a distinctive energy and an exhaustion that few actors could simultaneously maintain. He does have some company – a very obvious love-hate relationship with the ship’s computer/robot Gerty (voiced by Kevin Spacey). Besides words, Gerty communicates via a selection of emoticons (at a time before they were as prevalent in society as now, what with emojis being all the rage), and there are times where his choice of face is so funny you can’t help but laugh out loud.

Does Moon have its flaws? Of course it does. At times, motivations for the whole set-up seem unclear. ​ The ending leaves a lot open to interpretation, ​and there are some 

small plot missteps. But what I think is best about Moon is what I think is best about all science-fiction. It presents questions, makes you think, and leaves you thinking. What more could you ask from a film?

I give Moon an “A”.          
                                                                                               
Check out more about this film on IMDB.