a return of the smart sci fi

Rating: 8/10 (31 March 2010)

Moon's style seems to have borrowed somewhat heavily from the early 70's film Silent Running and to a lesser extent other classics such as 2001 and Alien, however its strong subject matter and a smart story pull this low budget sci-fi up to the level of those it pays homage to and presents a contemporary and viable story of its own.
Without revealing too much plot, there is one actor, the underrated Sam Rockwell (think Gary oldman without the ticks) and an ambiguous genre-defying computer voiced by Kevin Spacey named Gerty. They spend their days lolling around a moon station mining the films Mc guffin "Helium -3". After the initial set up things get a little difficult for our protagonist as he struggles to comprehend the events that are evolving around him. The film keeps you engaged for the entire running time and ends with a few head scratches that will keep you awake for that "penny dropping" moment when the whole film makes perfect sense. Its main themes are as interesting as the story itself and it explores quite a few, mainly human isolation and compassion, consumerism and corporatization mixed with strong overtones of environmental deprecation at the expense of industry and commerce.
Duncan Jones who has obviously inherited his dad's interest in all things space proves in control of his subject matter and willing to let us think for ourselves, which is rare in this day and age. Some tasteful modern cues adorn the film; a few orchestral winks to scores past keep us entertained whilst not detracting from the films overall tone. The sound design keeps the artificial environment alive and humming and adds to the claustrophobia and distance one would feel in that environment. You'll believe there is a real moon space mining operation out there. All in all this movie gives low budget films a boost and possibly signals the beginning of studios funding the "smart" sci-fi film rather than some of the bloated messes we see in the cinema these days. Hint : Watch this movie twice to see the clues