A major narrative flaw keeps this from being a top flight sci-fi movie

Rating: 6/10 (15 June 2019)

On the one hand, Duncan Jones should be commended for trying to tell an intelligent science fiction story. At a time When most movies in the genre are brainless eye candy, this film is somewhat of a breath of fresh air. Unfortunately it does not succeed wholly. For a mystery and suspense film to work, you can not give away the payoff midway through. And if you do, like Vertigo did so many decades ago, then you better be real creative about it. For the first half, Moon was a tense and gripping sci-fi picture. Most of the intensity and mystery of the first half was gone by the second half, which drastically effected the quality. The movie coasted to a very predictable and anticlimactic ending. Sam Rockwell, playing two versions of himself gives an intense performance throughout. Only if the film was as consistent, we would have had something special on our hands.