By golly I think he's got it!

Rating: 8/10 (16 April 2011)

Whereas it still may be too early to tell, I think Duncan Jones has GOT IT.
This is a man who knows science fiction. He has currently made two of pretty much the best examples of the genre, but more importantly, he's doing it in a way contrary to the way most contemporary directors are trying to shine within genre filmmaking: he is not subverting it, mixing it, trying to rise above it--Duncan Jones is sticking to his premises and plying all the rules with a straight face. He is very referential, but takes care that the references are only gentle homage and that he uses them only if they fit the purpose of the movie.
Let me put it this way: if this movie was made write-by-committee to be the genre film it is, the initial premise would become gimmick once several obvious options for flat and uninspired twists appear in the narrative, in the hopes that it would dazzle enough people to make money before everyone noticed that it doesn't make any sense. If it were made in the manner most contemporary but famous-name directors do (Nolan, this is me glaring at you), it would not keep itself contained to the science fiction and thriller aspects of what it's doing. Most importantly of all, however, the key is that what underlies everything going on here is a strict focus on the story. Anything else that doesn't fit, Duncan Jones doesn't do.
Here's what I mean. Both Moon and Source Code involve an initial premise ripe with the danger of gimmick: in Moon, a man becomes slowly aware that he is a clone with an expiration date trapped on the Moon all alone; in Source Code, a man becomes slowly aware that he is a dead soldier being used in an experimental form of crime prevention involving quantum physics-based time travel (there's a bit of dialog in the movie that argues its not time travel, but for all intents and purposes, it is). In either movie both the premise, and the reveal that explains it, is delivered and clarified within the first third of the movie, with very little time wasted on exposition. Jones is not holding cards up his sleeve to wow the audience with magic tricks, he's laying out the hand early and letting the characters work with them. The rest of the movie follows their attempt to deal with their situation using whatever tools they have available. It's BRILLIANT.
He's also keeping it small. Moon takes place entirely in a few sets with only two actors. Source Code is much bigger, but is still contained to, basically, a train, a train station, and a government facility. I would not be surprised if Jones' movies keep getting bigger, but I would be surprised if he loses his economy of sets, characters, and conceits. The point I'm stressing again and again is that this guy cuts out all the fat.
Now comes the inevitable "but". I have to admit that there's a little more to be wished for in terms of the heavy, and his motivations. Since the story is much more focused on Gyllenhaal's character and his attempt to work through the very circumstance he finds himself in, it did not give Jones a lot of room to give much detail or development to the bomber that the character is eventually supposed to capture. The result is a rather lame high schooler who has just seen Fight Club for the first time and happens to have access to radioactive material. A little bland, I must say.
But you know what? I don't care. This movie was great. If Jones peeved me in any way, it's in the attempt to differentiate the concept from time travel from the explanation given, a concise enough pseudoscience explanation operable for establishing the story if not entirely accurate itself, when he already refers in some sequences (especially the end) to movies like La Jetee (which I KNOW Zowie Bowie is aware of, considering his father's music video which is a direct spin-off of that film), which have pretty much established mental memory morality plays as a legitimate form of time travel long ago. That's the the time-travel geek in me getting a bit uppity, is all. I love you D-Jones, keep working the good work.
--PolarisDiB