Monday, August 03, 2009

Movie Review: Moon

Moon got a lot of reviews as one of the best serious sci-fi films since 2001 and Solaris. That's high praise indeed. Some time in the future, 70% of Earth's energy needs are met by fusion powered by He-3 mined on the far side of the moon. A mining facility is staffed by just one man, Sam Bell who's a few weeks away from the end of his 3 year contract stint. He's aided at the facility by Gerty a robot voiced by Kevin Spacey. I won't give away the plot, but strange things start to happen.

Sam Rockwell plays Bell and gives the very good performance you would expect. It was made for just $5 million and it's very impressive on that account. The sets are sparse but reasonable and add to the sense of isolation. The film worked for me though I had a hard time relating to Sam. It could have just been me, but I found his reactions to some events rather baffling. Maybe it was just denial spurred on by the isolation, but I'm not sure why I should care about that. I wish the ideas presented were taken a little further, but I can also see how people would be very happy with this film. If you're a sci-fi fan you should certainly see it.

No comments: