An interesting concept that lacks substance

Rating: 6/10 (1 November 2016)

I had heard a lot of talk about Duncan Jones' Moon before viewing, with many critics toting is as a "sci-fi masterpiece" and comparing it to the genre's best. While I do think that Moon has an interesting concept, it ultimately lacks substance. Moon tries to be something out-of-this-world but simply cannot make anything interesting happen with its ideas.
The idea of isolation in space is nothing original, but if done correctly, can create an intensely immersive and rich environment to get lost in, as well as give us a chance to connect with the human character(s). Despite the low budget and limited set designs, Moon does manage to create a somewhat immersive environment (even though it does kind of look the same as every other movie sharing the same concept). The set design is alright for the most part.
Now the characters are really what drive the force of this movie and this aspect was probably the best the movie had to offer. Kevin Spacey's icy and relaxed mannerism in delivering lines was perfect for Gertie and Sam Rockwell gave an excellent performance interacting with both Gertie and himself. The character interaction was by far the most entertaining part of the film. The script was tightly written and the story was interesting enough. Although many questions are left unanswered, I didn't find it worth the time to try to figure them out.
Moon has a massive flaw though, which is the reason why I think it is only slightly above average in terms of sci-fi. The film severely lacks any substance and mostly feels like filler. And don't get me wrong, I am a patient person when it comes to movies and I enjoy a slow-burner, but Moon failed to hold my attention during the first act, which led to a bad first impression of the film. There is just simply not enough going on to make me really care about what i'm watching. And the "big reveal" I saw from miles away, and from then on, the movie doesn't really progress much.
In total, I don't think Moon is a completely awful movie. It is competently made and well acted and looks decent for it's low budget. It just never really kicks off and it left me with an empty feeling afterwards. I wrote this review only a day after I saw Moon and there is honestly not a single scene or piece of dialogue that I think I will remember after a few days.