Very Good Sci-fi

Rating: 9/10 (4 August 2009)

The future can be bright and the future can be bleak. It's an area that has always offered writers and filmmakers have often looked at and brought us some real classics. Here is Duncan Jones' homage to the great era of Sci-fi from of the 60s to the 80s.
In Duncan Jones' vision of the future the world's energy needs are solved by mining the moon for helium-3 which can be used for nuclear fusion. Living on the dark side of the moon is Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell), who is coming to the end of a 3 year contract. He has lived in isolation, with only GERTY (Kevin Spacey), a robot who is programmed to serve him. His only contact from the outside world is video messages from his wife (Dominique McElligott) and the company. When one of the mining machines suffers some damage Sam goes out to fix it. However, after seeing images he crashes and wakes up after in the infirmary. GERTY tells Sam he is under orders no to let out the base and he has to trick the robot before being allowed out. In the open spaces of the moon Sam finds another version of himself. Both falls quickly into conflict, both arguing they are the real Sam and the other is a clone. But both also know something wider and darker is happening and they need to solve it before a rescue team arrive.
Duncan Jones offers a strong and ambitious debut as a feature director. Sci-fi is not a genre that indie directors attempt and Jones does a wonderful job with a $5 Million budget. He shows that Sci-fi can be meaningful and doesn't resource to action and explosions to keep the audience's interest. It is thoughtful with themes of identity, isolation and the future of mankind. Jones keeps the mystery going and makes the audience exercise their mind whilst watching.
Sam Rockwell has a tough job acting by himself, but he is a talented actor and does a excellently. He is allowed to show his range and can show a lot in his facial expressions. Kevin Spacey who is just a voice in this film offers a good impression of HAL 9000.
Clint Mansell who composed an fantastic score for Requiem for a Dream has shown his musical talent again which a subtle, haunting score.
Jones is an old fashion director, using models rather then CGI. It is refreshing to see in a modern film, is a lot more effective then CGI would have been on such a low budget. It reminds of films such as the original Star War films.
Moon pays homage and has similarities to classic Sci-fi such as Alien, Blade Runner, Sunshine, 2001: A Space Odyssey (a must see) and 2010: the Year We Made Contact (a boring dud).
Duncan Jones has a fine future ahead of him.