Ask many people of a list of the greatest sci-fi films and they'll no doubt list 2001 A Space Odyssey, Blade Runner, Solaris ... and after this movie they'll probably list Moon. 

Science fiction is a popular medium for blockbusters, with at least a couple out a year.  But these films often need to be taken with a considerable pinch of salt and especially for anyone who had any science education beyond 16!

So an intelligent science fiction movie is a bit of a rarity.  And one that is accessable without being too pretentious or baffling rarer still - yes I've heard all the criticisms of certain movies.

Moon is a story of a lunar mining colony in the near future, where the rare isotope Helium-3 is being mined.  It's a rare isotope that helps induce a fusion reaction which keeps the Earth in cheap power. 

Sam Bell is the sole human resident on a 3 year contract, his only company coming from a robotic assistant GERTY who keeps assuring him it's there to look after him.  However as they're on the dark side of the Moon, and the company comms satellite is down, Sam has no-one to talk to, with only the odd time-delayed message relayed from Jupiter.

His contract coming to an end, Sam is looking forward to returning to Earth to his wife and the daughter he's never met.  But his grip on reality is fading, and he's hallucinating, seeing things he knows aren't there.  Then going out to repair one of the Lunar Harvesters, he suffers a terrible accident only to wake up in med-bay with more questions.  Is he going mad or is he not the person he thinks he is?

Moon is an unfolding mystery story, to give away too much is to spoil it for others.  But it's themes are pretty big - who are we, what makes us who we are, and what happens when the things we define ourselves with are taken away from us. 

Sam Rockwell as Sam Bell puts in a brilliant performance as the main character, and the robotic GERTY is expertly voiced by Kevin Spacey and keeps you guessing whether he's friend or foe to Sam.  Ironically this space oddity was written and directed by Duncan Jones, better known as the boy with the worst name in the world - Zowie Bowie - bestowed by his father David.  And he's done a very good job - although of course you can't help but think how David Bowies isolation of the Man Who Fell To Earth, and his memories of his abandoned family on a far away world are being echoed in this.

The film has won a lot of awards - including the Hugo award in 2010.  And although sometimes awards can be misleading and very in the eye of the beholder.  The English Patient has a whole host of them, and yet I rate it as "Worst waste of 3 hours of my life" ... yeah I've been in traffic jams which were more entertaining.  But Moon delivers some clever, and slightly haunting ideas with out too much obscure symbolism or padding ...