Monday, March 12, 2012

Moon (2009)


                 A tragic science fiction story about how far is too far to go.  It has no bearing on space travel in this sense but rather with human cloning and toying with a mind who thought all along he was to go home to be with his family.  The film is mind blowing to put it as accurate as I can word.  I’ve never seen a movie with this kind of plot and it really captured me.  The man Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell) is a single crew member on a moon station.  His job is basically an interstellar miner.  Rockwell’s performance is astonishing which surprised me a bit as I never thought he could lead a movie let alone be the entire cast.  He mines the energy source for the planet Earth in the future setting.

                The greatest achievement of this film is the spirit of the unraveling process.  Think of the entire film as a bandaged wound that is still hurt underneath with pain.  It slowly gets exposed as the man discovers what is going on in the space station where he works and lives.  He crashes a space vehicle into a mining craft on the moon and it seems he recovers once safely on board again.  Gerty (Kevin Spacey) is his computer companion that is devoted entirely to helping Sam Bell.  He awakens to Gerty caring for him in bed while he has no memory of the incident.  Once he was in bed after the crash that’s when I felt the first moment of how did he get there?  I made guesses that Gerty was able to remote control some vehicles to retrieve him which seemed simple enough but was there something else?  It takes Sam a bit of time to recuperate but he eventually ventures outside to see for himself the crash site.  He notices one of the vehicles gone from its parking area which puts some mystery on your brain as you watch.  He finds himself in the crashed vehicle still.

                That moment really caught me by surprise.  I totally was sold on the fact he was set to go home and someone else would be replacing him on the station.  I soon found out that he is the replacement.  The same man destined to monitor the station forever?  It cuts costs considerably but truly at what cost?  The clones are human with all of the original Sam’s memories.  It seems like a cruel undertaking to have them alive to man the station for a certain amount of time then destroy them and start over.  They aren’t machines they’re humans, right?  That’s the line you must let consume your thoughts as you try to come to terms with the treatment of the clones.  For the first time, taking this is the first time; there are two clones on board the station active at once or is one a clone and the other the original?  The two Sam’s struggle at first to grasp the situation while the first Sam is convinced he is the real Sam.

                The film progresses nicely as the first Sam Bell discovers the ultimate truth of his existence.  Let’s also note that the first Sam is in a state of breakdown physically.  It seems as if his body is not recovering from the crash he was in.  The station appears to have a down communications tower with earth which is used as a means to cut off Sam from everything.  He journeys out onto the moon, often accompanied by the other Sam, to find out if the tower is really malfunctioning.  The moment he sees his 15 year old daughter, he assumed she was about 4, is saddening.  He managed to rig a conversation from the area of the tower to call earth.  He learns his wife is dead as well.  He also learns that the original Sam Bell is on earth living life as it should be.  The tragedy felt as they discover they truly are clones is moving.  The film is rather calm most of the time and seeing the Sam’s interact with each other is often very interesting.  The first twist of them being clones is splendid then it’s entertaining to see them try to figure out what is really going on upon the station.  It’s an outstanding film for science fiction and mystery seekers alike.  It’s a rare type of space story that can draw in more of an audience than your typical outer space adventure. 

                Rating: 10 of 10


The labels just below can link you to similar posts about this one so check them out!

No comments:

Post a Comment