a review of 月球

One of science-fiction's most compelling themes is the exploration of what it means to exist. The genre makes use of things like androids, clones, and time travel counterparts to take a look at how we define life and what exactly makes something able to be called human. These concepts are often the true driving forces behind some of the genre's most respected stories, such as the legendary Blade Runner film. Moon is another example of a movie that dives into these topics. It does so with surprising emotion and remarkable execution given it's small indie nature that forces it to live or die by it's largely one man show approach. Luckily, Same Rockwell proves up to the task of carrying the bulk of the film on his back and once you get past the first 30 minutes or so director/co-writer Duncan Jones provides some nice payoffs. Initially I wasn't onboard with Moon. The quirky nature that is built into every aspect of the movie was a bit much at first. It made it hard to really get a grasp of what Jones was going for. The early setup is just so awkward. Watching Rockwell deal with the eerily mysterious new occurrences on his little slice of the cheeseball in the sky is handled in the weirdest and most illogical of ways. If I weren't so interested in figuring out just what was going on I might have turned the movie off and pretended like I never started it in the first place. I'm glad I didn't, because once the story really gets going it's hard to not enjoy what's happening onscreen. There are moments of poignant self-discovery and it takes a dark look at just how cruel we can be when viewing another lifeform as expendable. Moon is basically about life. It's also one of those movies that will mess with your perception of memories. If you think, therefore you are, right? But what if they aren't your thoughts? I have a lot to dwell on after watching this. Jones built this movie with a pretty big brain inside it's skull. The film starts off on a note of frustration due to how odd and somewhat nonchalant the protagonist's reactions to the events at hand are. It's something Moon can't entirely shake even when things take a turn for the (much) more enjoyable. In the end it was still able to win me over though. Standing out as a noteworthy piece of indie sci-fi filmmaking.