Review of Moon (2009) by Xgary X — 16 May 2013

A lone astronaut working a mining operation on the moon starts seeing the face of a young woman and begins to question his sanity. Moon flies very much in the face of contemporary sci-fi. It has a very retro look, complimented perfectly by the use of beautifully crafted miniatures rather than the ubiquitous CGI and this retro feel is carried through to every aspect of the film.

The sets are very reminiscent of the original Alien, the scenario echoes 70s eco sci-fi Silent Running combined with the themes of Solaris, it has the ominous electronic countdown of Outland and has a similar plot line to some aspects of Capricorn One; but it does so with such reverance and understanding of the genre it is far from a cheap carbon copy.

Sam Rockwell puts in a great performance as the man alone (...?) although I did wish a lesser known actor had been chosen to be the voice of GERTY. All too often it seemed to me like Kevin Spacey was in the next room speaking to him on an intercom instead of thinking of his robotic companion as an entity in itself.

It's the kind of intriguing and thoughtful sci-fi that never seems to get made any more and would undoubtedly have been ruined if a major studio had got involved. Maybe it relies just a little too much on its twist, but certainly different and in a very good way.