A_______ of the ________ (Moon Review)
Friday, March 12, 2010 at 7:00 PM Yes, I know the title is cryptic. But I couldn't post the full title of what I wanted to call this post because it would only give away major plot points of the movie. So let's get this out of the way up front. Moon is a fantastic sci-fi movie, a real thinking man's movie. In fact, this is what sci-fi is all about, getting people to think about abstract hypothetical situations. This is what makes this film so powerful. It's not about watching how much stuff you can blow up in space or cool robots, but it's about trying to explore the human condition. The cinematography is beautiful, the music is awesome, and Sam Rockwell does a bang up job acting. Okay, the rest is spoilers. You've been warned. The rest of this review is going to be about dissecting the major themes of Moon.

What I wanted to call this post was "Attack of the Clones." If you've seen the movie, then you know why. But let's face it, putting that in the title would have given too much away. Moon raises a lot of interesting questions to think about. The biggest one of course is, "What does it mean to be human?" After coming to terms with the fact that the two Sams are indeed clones (at first, I thought they were hallucinations), we are left to contemplate the idea of which Sam is real? Gerty says it best when he says that both of these Sams are the real Sam Bell. But are they though? The first Sam we meet (here on out called "Sam A") is a patient and laid back individual. However the new Sam ("Sam B") is a rash and proactive person.
At this point it is clear to see that we are examining the fine points of character growth. Sam A is forced to see the person that he was in the incarnation of Sam B. But the question this raises is if every iteration of Sam has seen the same growth over the course of their three individual year stints? For instance, Sam B is unlike any Sam that has come before him in that he was able to escape from the moon. It's true the circumstances Sam B faced were unlike any of the previous Sams, but he was still able to do something different.
What I'm proposing is a mixture of alternate universe theory and cloning. What I mean is that this is how Sam would have turned out in these different scenarios. Given the extreme different situations between Sam A and Sam B, we see two completely different Sams. The only thing that separates them is time and circumstances. But are both these Sams the real Sam? Absolutely. They've just been dealt a different set of cards. Moon is a collision of what happens if two alternate universes were to collide. What's makes the situation even more complex is that Sam A influences Sam B. But Sam B would not be the person he has become without the impact that Sam A had, which is unique to the circumstances Sam A faced. Damn. Confused yet?
While there are many major ideas to discuss, I think Moon is trying to get at the heart of what it mean to be alive. No matter where we came from, we are always a product of the circumstances that life presents to us. We don't have control over these circumstances, but it is the way that we react that shapes the people we become. In life, it doesn't matter what decision you make. What matters is being able to discern how life would be different if you had made other choices and learn from these non-existent parallel universes. How will you let your Sam A influence you?
This is what I got out of Moon. I know there are others that have seen other things from this movie. Feel free to leave your ideas on what you think about Moon below.
Oh, and I think it goes without saying. 5 out of 5.
Duncan Jones,
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