After finally finding a theater playing this nearby (a total of 3 in all of Ontario it seems), I did not hesitate to get out and see what I thought was going to be one of the best movies of the year.

Well, I was not disappointed.

Every minute of this epic oozed sci-fi goodness, made even better with an incredible score by none other than Clint Mansell (composer of one of the best soundtracks ever).  Duncan Jones made me feel as if I were right there alongside Sam Bell on the Lunar Industries station, with a set and effects rivaling those of films with MUCH higher budgets (Moon reportedly cost $5 million to make).  By using models and limiting special effects, it makes some of the shots even more impressive.

Sam Rockwell pulled off what might be one of the best performances I’ve seen in years. I’ve always liked him, even if he did pull off an average Zaphod Beeblebrox.  Kevin Spacey, as the voice of GERTY, did as good a job as you can expect voicing a robot with limited facial expressions.

The film quickly turns when Sam crashes one of the lunar rovers into a harvester unit and is knocked unconscious.  Upon his revival, he ventures out to see what had happened, however upon arriving at the scene of the accident notices a body in the crashed rover which is  eerily similar to his own.  Inevitably, Sam has a handful of questions, none of which GERTY is authorized, or programmed, to provide answers to.  The film takes on a mystery-thriller aspect at this point and it is where the striking resemblance to 2001 : A Space Odyssey is clearly apparent.

As far as science fiction films go, this is easily one of the best of the last decade.  Any true fan of film owes it to themselves to see this original masterpiece.

Synopsis : A fantastic first effort by Duncan Jones and another stellar performance by Sam Rockwell, perhaps one of his best.  Even if you aren’t a fan of sci-fi, the atmosphere and performances will keep you glued to the screen and with the rumour of a trilogy in the works, I couldn’t be happier.