Moon ★★★½
ENGLISH writer/director Duncan Jones is the son of David Bowie.
Just thought I would start with that because Jones is an interesting director who is yet to live up to the promise of his 2009 debut feature Moon.
He has only made a handful of films since – the entertaining sci-fi thriller Source Code, the average, video game-inspired Warcraft and 2018’s Mute.
Moon was a significant debut for two reasons. The story was remeniscent of some of the great, sci-fi isolation thrillers, such as 2001 and Silent Running, but with enough originality to not be purely derivative.
Of even more interest to many critics was the tremendous visual impact Jones achieved on a miniscule $5 million budget – that’s total, not just special effects.
The wider shots on the moon surface of vehicles moving between locations appear at first look to be models, but the work is of the highest order at a time when computer graphics were still experimental, particularly with that quantum of money.
The vehicle and location interiors are superior again and lend authenticity to the story of the dawning of self-awareness on the main protagonist.
Sam Bell, well played by Sam Rockwell, is nearing the end of his three year contract with Lunar Industries.
During that time he has been the sole employee based at their lunar station where he looks after the machines that move slowly across the moon’s surface, harvesting supplies of a fuel now being used on Earth.
Sam’s only link to humanity, represented by two company managers and his wife and daughter, are via video links controlled by the station’s resident robot, GERTY, which also monitors Sam’s health and work schedule, prepares his meals, cleans up after him and even cuts his hair.
With two weeks left Sam is injured in an accident. He wakes to discover another person walking the corridors who appears to look like him…and I’ll leave it there.
Moon may be small in budget but the visual impact and ideas it explores are expansive and constantly engrossing.
Rockwell shows why he has become one of Hollywood’s current great character actors and Kevin Spacey provides the voice of GERTY in a manner that will also keep you guessing until the film’s wholly satisfying conclusion.
The film wasn’t a financial success, but the critics loved it.