Tuesday, 11 August 2015

Review: Moon (2009)

moon-movie-review-2009
This is another film that’s been sat in a ‘recommended’ list for so long I forgot why it was there in the first place. After watching it the other night, I suspect it was recommended to me after reviewing Interstellar, or maybe even Gravity, but that’s just a guess! As I write this now the UK is going through an insufferable heat wave, and with hindsight, maybe watching a mind-boggling sci-fi whilst melting in my living room was the wrong thing to do.

Moon is a clever little sci-fi film set in the future, where mankind has discovered an alternative fuel source found on the moon, helium-3. Sam (Sam Rockwell) is the sole employee at a lunar station on the moon, where we manges the machines responsible for harvesting the helium-3 from the moon’s surface. As his 3 year contract comes to an end and he looks forward to coming back home to earth, he is injured in an accident.

I think that’s all I can really tell you without spoiling anything. If you’re thinking about watching Moon, I promise to keep this spoiler free for you! Also, you must forgive the sloppy review.Sci-fi is not my forte, and ‘space stuff’ tends to go right over my head. For example, there’s a robot in Moon called GERTY (voiced by Kevin Spacey), that I’m told is a nod to a robot in 2001: A Space Odyssey, but I haven’t seen that...maybe that’ll be one for the Blind Spot list next year.

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Speaking of GERTY though, he was delightful. He has a little monitor with an emotion-style face which ranges from a grin to crying, which tells us how he’s feeling at any time. Does he feel? Does he have AI? I’m not sure! He does have a ‘kick me’ sign on his back though, which made me chuckle.

It was nice to see Sam Rockwell in such a serious role. I’ve only seen him in comedies so far and I really do think he’s a good actor. There’s a particular scene which really stuck with me where he has a complete breakdown, and it was so moving. He nailed it! The music as well was brilliant, and straight from the start it gave me a feeling that things weren’t going to be happy fun times.

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So, as much as I’ve praised Moon, something still doesn’t sit right with me. Sam didn’t freak out as much as I thought he should have done at a certain revelation, and the twist kind of wasn’t a twist, either. I don’t know? It’s hard to explain, but nothing really shocked me in this. It was enjoyable for sure, but I didn’t love it as much as I perhaps should have done. Absolutely worth a watch though!


6 comments:

  1. I keep being told that I need to see this. I still haven't...but I will. Your review, despite not 'loving' the film, has me even more convinced I need to give it a go.

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    1. Yes, please don't let me put you off. I really can see why this is such a loved film, it just didn't do it for me! I'd love to hear your thoughts on it though.
      - Allie

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  2. I was pleasantly surprised by Moon. I really enjoyed it. Rockwell absolutely nailed it. And yeah, GERTY is totally a riff on HAL from 2001.

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    1. I can't argue with that, Sam Rockwell was brilliant. I need to see 2001! It should be on next year's Blind Spot list I think.
      - Allie

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  3. Great review! I liked it a bit more than you did. It's actually one of my all time favorite sci fi movies now. Rockwell deserved an Oscar nom for that performance.

    Gerty > Hal. I hated 2001 lol.

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    1. No I know exactly what you mean, I think he deserved one too! I can see why it's such a loved movie, it just didn't hit the spots for me :(
      - Allie

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