Clever, Suspenseful and Never Boring

Rating: 8/10 (17 March 2010)

It is rare for a science fiction film to be slow paced, yet remain entertaining. Last year's Moon is one of those exceptions in that although there is little action, it is clever, suspenseful, and is never boring. When most people think of science fiction films they think of a fast-paced, technically stunning experience (i.e. Avatar, District 9, Aliens), yet Moon was made for a tiny budget and still manages to be visually ravishing. This is caused by the impressive camera-work as well as the futuristic setting.
The film follows astronaut Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell), who is only a few weeks away from completing his three-year contract with Lunar Industries, the company responsible for extracting helium 3 (Earth's main energy source after all oil has been depleted) from the Moon's surface. Sam has been completely isolated during his stay on the Moon with the exception of a robot named GERTY (Kevin Spacey). He does keep in contact with his family via video transmission, yet the transmissions are not live feeds because of a failure with one of the communications satellites located on the surface. After Sam wrecks his Moon rover into an harvesting machine, he is saved by another suspicious astronaut. After recovering he is bemused to find that the astronaut who saved his life turns out to be himself. Throughout the rest of the film it is up to Sam to figure out whether the other him is indeed real or simply a fragment of his imagination. Now I know that you are thinking that this movie sounds confusing and weird, but somehow director Duncan Jones pulls it off. In fact, the most interesting part about this film is trying to figure out what is happening to Sam. Is he being cloned or has being completely alone for 3 years simply lead him to lose his mind? This question posed by the filmmakers is what makes Moon more suspenseful than most science fiction dramas.
Overall, Moon is a superior small budget film thanks to its original story, clever dialogue, great visuals and a fantastic performance by Sam Rockwell. Besides District 9, this was the best science fiction film of 2009.