Moon – Review

An absolute blast of Sci-Fi awesomeness, Moon is simple, yet fantastic. Exposition explains clean burning Helium-3 has saved humanity. Deserts are blooming. Energy is abundant. Food shortages are gone. The fusion energy of the sun is utilized via its own rays trapped in rocks, harvested by machines on the far side of the moon. Duh! This supplies 70% of our planet’s energy needs, all thanks to Lunar Industries.

Then there is Lunar employee Sam Bell (Rockwell) at the Mining Base Sarang, crew size one and three-year contract. He is just rolling along towards the tail end of his time, trying to maintain his sanity. It is a lonely gig, but at least he has GERTY (Spacey, unfortunately), his talking robot pal, and this helps stave off the space madness a bit. The duo monitors energy harvesters, station diagnostics, and repair needs. Sam records vids for his family back on Earth and watches recorded ball game feeds, and can’t help but feel a bit stir crazy.

As Sam’s loneliness gets the best of him, he starts talking to his plant, Doug, and then things get… strange… That’s where we leave it. This movie is great. Go watch it. Two weeks to go, Sam. Would you like some hot sauce on your beans?

Moon was probably at best a modest budget, but the crew used it all extremely well. It is creatively shot which matches its awesome and entertaining script. This is definitely a very fun movie with plenty of clever plot ideas going for it. If you have no idea about it, consider yourself lucky and mostly avoid finding out more.

Sam Rockwell is always good, but damn does he absolutely sink into the layered psychological madness required for this role. He makes this film a level or two higher than would have otherwise been possible.

A sum of its awesome parts, Moon remains one of the dope Sci-Fi flicks of the last few decades. It gives a lot to think about and consider, dumps some interesting moral dilemmas on the viewer, and feels oddly realistic. Ideas presented are great, the execution remains quality and it is endlessly entertaining.

“Signal failure on long range comms.”