Moon

It's been a while since I've done a Retro Review, with my last one being Moonrise Kingdom back in April (ouch!). 

Part of that is due to me stepping back a bit this year from Rath's Reviews to balance it with an increased load at work and in my personal life, as well as making room for the newest edition to Rath's Reviews: Rath Write-Ups. 

I've been eager to step back into this space though -- both to increase my past movie knowledge from films I haven't seen -- and to give some of my Retro Review fans an additional entry. 

Moon is a film that isn't all that "retro" (it came out in 2009) but one that I've heard spoken about a decent amount in sci-fi circles for the past few years. Throw in a very Kubrick-esque movie poster and a central performance from an often overlooked actor, Sam Rockwell, and you've got something that has had my curiosity for a while.

Unfortunately for Moon, I think it came several years too late to really impress me the same way I'm sure it did nearly a decade ago. There's still a lot of great stuff to be had here, but I found the whole experience a bit hollow by the time it ended. 

Moon begins as Sam Bell (Rockwell) is nearing the end of a 3 year stint of his solitary employment as a harvester of a new form of energy. He's been alone for that time and is eager to see his wife and baby girl again. As the film progresses, the sci-fi elements kick in and we learn that there's something more sinister and mysterious going on. Truth be told, I think many Black Mirror episodes beat Moon to the punch in my reverse-viewing order and that's partly the reason doesn't have as much impact for me. Knowing absolutely nothing about it -- I've kept free of spoilers this whole time -- I predicted where the film was going pretty early on. That's not to say it's a bad sci-fi film by any means, but just that the element of surprise was gone and I'd seen similar already before. Where I did take issue with the movie is that it feels left too open-ended for my liking. The mystery twist is exposed, but then everyone seems to handle it surprisingly well and there isn't much resolution to it. I feel like there was a certain amount of energy that was put into "world-building" this future-world, but it wasn't really taken advantage of other than just being the simple setting. Perhaps I was expecting too much in terms of resolution, but I was left unsatisfied. 

"If I hit that ramp just right, I'll make it to Earth!"

A man and his robot

Though the story may have been some "old news" sci-fi (in Jordan's world), Moon is still a nice piece of film making, particularly thanks to Sam Rockwell. For a smaller budget film, it has decent special effects that hold up fine a decade later. It's also got patient editing and some good cinematography despite taking place nearly all within several rooms. While I felt the pacing was a little slow at the beginning (before we get to the twist), it all moves along pretty quickly past that and is a nice, short and sweet film at 97 minutes. Rockwell is the core performance here -- and basically the only performance other than GERTY, a robot played by Kevin Spacey. He does well holding the screen and I appreciated the challenge that came with what he needed to accomplish. For the most part, his character is well written, but I'm still shocked by how well he handles the big reveal of the film; something that rests much more on the filmmaker's shoulders than Rockwell's. Plus we get him dancing a bit which is always a treat. And speaking of original score, Moon's is pretty fantastic and touching in places. For probably 70% of the time it's forgettable (certainly nothing like this space opus) but when it needs to count, I felt it, which is always a special treat.

Run, Rockwell! Run!

Sometimes when you do a Retro Review, the film isn't always the same as it was when it first premiered. A lot of times that's due to other experiences you've had or mediums you've seen that take some of the "originality" out of something that was once "original". Trying not to fault Moon for my reverse viewing order, I believe it to be a strong piece of sci-fi that doesn't quite reach greatness because the idea seems a little half-baked. Or maybe put more appropriately, half-investigated. 

CONS 

• Unraveled a bit predictably
• It's big twist happens, and then everyone reacts rather calmly to it (all things considered)
• The story doesn't go much further with its premise than basically introducing it. The ending feels open-ended in several ways
• Slow pacing at the beginning

PROS

• Sam Rockwell gives a fun, and I'm sure, challenging, performance
• Strong sci-fi elements and some cool technology and world-building that occurs
• Enjoyable mystery that moves quickly once it is revealed
• Good cinematography and special effects
• When the film needs it, the original score delivers

Retro Rath's Review Score | 7.5/10