Moon from 2009 is the best science fiction film of the past ten years. Directed by Duncan Jones with intelligence, sensitivity and good taste. Jones had worked with low budgets previously and the practical effects used to create the base and surrounding area of the moon are great and very old fashioned in a pleasing way.
I’ve never been a massive fan of Sam Rockwell, but he’s well directed here in a dual role and turns in an outstanding performance.
This is intelligent sci-fi; there are no aliens, intergalactic battles or anything else that seems popular in the genre. This is a pared down plot that looks philosophically at space and our not too distant future.
It reminded me of the very watchable Silent Running and of course, Kubrick’s 2001.
It’s interesting that Jones has gone from the practical shooting effects on Moon to take up the director’s seat on the CGI heavy World of Warcraft movie, the kind of popcorn movie that Moon seems to rail against. One hopes he can bring some intelligence to the start of that franchise.
The trailer for Moon is below…
Matthew Cooper has been a script writer for hire for over 20 years. He’s written for most of the UK soaps, including writing award winning episodes of Emmerdale, Eastenders, Hollyoaks and Family Affairs. Matthew was winner of the first ever Lloyds Bank Channel Four Film Challenge, the Oscar Moore Screenplay Prize and has been BAFTA shortlisted and Royal Television Society nominated as a script writer. You can find some of his broadcast credits on the IMDb. You can get in touch with Matthew on matcoop23@yahoo.co.uk