Cinema review
Directed by Duncan Jones
Starring Sam Rockwell, voice of Kevin Spacey, Dominique McElligott, Matt Berry
Release date 17 July 2009 (UK)

Sam (Rockwell) is nearing the end of a lonely three-year mining mission on the moon, and his only companion is the reassuring robot GERTY (voiced by Kevin Spacey). But something doesn't feel quite right…

In a summer of frenetically edited, whippet-paced sci-fi flicks (Terminator Salvation, Star Trek, Transformers 2), Moon is an oasis of calm. It’s an unhurried but gripping study of loneliness and liberty that boasts terrific (and infinitely more convincing) old-school modelwork over CGI, emotional impact over empty shrieking and a well-crafted story over layers of baffling and extraneous backstory.

Sam Rockwell has slowly but surely been crafting out a career in interesting movies for years now, in everything from Confessions of a Dangerous Minds to Galaxy Quest, and Moon offers him his most substantial role to date. His character, also named Sam, is a sympathetic, troubled figure full of constant surprises, and his journey of discovery is, at times, almost heartbreaking to watch.

Kevin Spacey, meanwhile, is always at his best when playing a character whose smugly pleasant tones disguise a dark side (think Seven, Swimming With Sharks or The Usual Suspects), a quality that makes him the perfect choice as the voice of emoticon-spewing robot GERTY – a figure whose motives are, once again, very difficult to read.

The clever thing about Moon is that it not only draws on the history of sci-fi cinema (including 2001 and Silent Running among others), but subtly plays on our expectations from those movies. The result is smart but also accessible, meaning that’s it closer to Gattaca or Sunshine than it is to artier fare like Solaris.

The leisurely unfolding of events and lack of action may be off-putting for some, and there isn’t, perhaps, quite the depth of the aforementioned 2001 and Silent Running; nevertheless, this is the best science fiction movie in years. The intriguing, surprise-filled story, awesome lunarscapes and haunting score from Clint Mansell (delivering another theme tune surely destined to be replayed over ads as much as Requiem for a Dream’s overture) add up to a thoughtful movie that should stay with you long after the closing credits.

Writer-director Duncan Jones has not only proved he’s more than simply David Bowie’s son, but has delivered a sci-fi film so full of imagination and originality that a distinguished career seems assured. All that, plus the most ingenious use of Chesney Hawkes’s one hit wonder you're ever likely to see. Matt McAllister

VERDICT: 8/10
Something that is all too rare these days: a mainstream sci-fi movie that has both brains and beauty. Let’s hope it prompts some kind of renaissance for the genre.

Click here to read an interview with director Duncan Jones.