The Moon

The Moon

Little bit of history for you all the twelve men who have went on the moon, are Americans. The last time took place a bit over fifty years, yet no other nation has rescheduled plans to send up their astronauts to the lunar surface. I wonder why?

With the discovery on the moon of an abundant substance named helium-3 that could benefit the earth as a low-pollution fuel, Korea sends manned space rocket Norae-ho to see if it can be mined. Tragically, Norae-ho exploded minutes after it launches, Korea suspends future missions and are expelled from the International Space Committee.

Five years later, Korea’s second attempt to reach the moon via rocket Woori-ho is more successful, until a solar wind knocks out its solar panels. Cho Yoon-jong (Lee Yi-kyung) and Lee Sang-won (Kim Rae-won) manage to fix the panels but a fuelleak brings about an explosion which claims their lives. Inexperienced Hwang Sun-woo (Doh Kyung-soo) is left alone in the cabin with only five days of oxygen.

Given the recent trend of astronauts being stuck in space in movies, one starts to think if more space films are required; except for the Korean filmmaker Kim Yong-hwa who has a completely different approach with his new film The Moon which is a drama. There is also another side which can be termed as ‘reverse nationalism’ where the Korean flag does not get forcefully waved in order to demonstrate how foreign nations are quite annoying.

By ’foreign nations‘, I’m specifically referring to America whose representation seems to never be ideal apparently; however, Kim does not set out to do that, as we see in the final segment. Throughout the melodrama, it’s suggested that “peace is necessary for a better world”, and it addresses the audience that the sphere isn’t exclusive to one country. Alright, never mind, perhaps he is taking aim at the USA.

Beginning with an info dump that’s talking about Korea’s history of failed missions, we first meet the three bold astronauts manning Woori-ho. It is so poignant that some details such as the pregnant wife of Sang-won and Yoon-jong carrying his son’s favorite toy better prepares us to expect the worst alongside Sun-woo being selected because he’s an ex-Navy SEAL and nothing about his intelligence pertaining to how well he knows space.

Sun-woo awakes in a remote area developed in most countries with his autopilot system disabled by another explosion and NARO space center’s expectations which are the basis of his hope not to return in vain to the tin can sphere he is utterly devastated.

It is suggested that the engineers who built Norae-ho should be contacted; what a loss that does not seem like Kyu-tae Hwang (Lee Sung-min), also known as Sun-woo’s dad, died by suicide after the failure of Norae-ho, and now it seems like Jae-guk Kim (Sol Kyung-gu) has a small private observatory somewhere in the countryside now.

When the pain of one son’s lonely life is hard to bear and Dom becomes an international case, Jae-guk cries out can a discontented man like Sun-woo really be able to accept something like this? In a rather caricaturish these days; remembering Ted Striker/Rex Kramer in Airplane!, Sun-woo puts himself in a position where he has to finish a mission and ignore how he really feels.

This example of a struggling tension between the characters is another great illustration of the earlier discussed excessive melodrama which gets resolved in an emotional chaotic outburst of humanity. For many characters, emotions have been deeply shaken, while for others, it becomes excessive and really does not help the focus on how exciting the space rescue actually is.

Jae-guk is seen talking over the phone to his ex-wife Yoon Moon-young who is now known as Jennifer after marrying an American. He inquires whether their lunar gateway shuttle will be able to collect Sun-woo when he gets into their orbit in 48 hours. However, her superiors will not as meteor showers are in the way and because Sun-woo is not an American. Because of this, Moon-young has no choice but to find unorthodox ways to assist Jae-guk fought it comes at a price.

With all due respect, it’s Lee’s portrayal of America and Americans that is the greatest distraction of all, if that message of Kim is worth anything, as it seems to be when Moon-young has to feel compassion with Abby while fighting her ‘patriotic’ instincts. Parochial and imperial, NASA appear obsessed with the idea of planting its flag on the moon, not at all like Korea who would be interested in distributing its treasures such as helium-3. These two examples prompt the question whether Kim is appealing to the audience’s Bostonian stereotype or if, in fact, he has legitimate reasons to be irked with the Americans.

Stripping everything, Kim does not however make this an excuse to avoid delivering a tense ring Sun-woo home against the many odds that Kim throws against him. If there is a complaint, it is the cliché, miracle or last ditch card solution far too many times used and yes, Sun-woo does get up and get beaten and turned out of resources but far too often Jae-guk gets to the party and that, probably, spoils the suspense of a return being plausible.

There are a number of factors in play where there seems to be injustice, as well as situations which both deserve a modern timing and an answer where a younger audience group has to be brought in. One such character is Han-byeol (Hong Seung-hee) in Jae-guk’s intern. Initially, although all the tensions were very apparent, she seemed to be a pretty face and absolutely nothing more right up until the point where everybody stagnated at the bottom of a well and looked resigned to the fact that Sun-woo was dead and there was no hope of him being saved, so she resorts to helping Jae-guk redirect the mission by going on YouTube and launching a viral campaign.

In terms of visuals, the movie is impressive with all scenes being captured in 4K, making the scenes in space look almost clean and pure compared to the dirt and dust we encounter on earth. The concern for the details in the moon surfaces and the space equipment does give a sense of realism as does much of the science in problem solving, making the distinction between reality and fiction questionable.

Kim has managed to gather a competent cast headed by Sol Kyung-gu who plays the role of Jae-guk and this time while he has probably cried throughout this role, he is still believable. Doh Kyung-soo is one more boyband when he was a member of Exo and quite good in depicting Sun-woo’s teenage frustration. Kim Hee-ae could have handled better the role of Moon-Young but she is restrained since she has to speak English almost half of the time. American actors are bad.

Mostly, politicizing science fiction is not a walk in the park and different people will have different degrees to which this affects their joy of The Moon, irrespective of the encouraging message that the movie possesses. At 129 minutes, this was an unnecessary long aspect that could have been trimmed off in order to ensure that The Moon is an engaging space drama that has mass appeal.

For more movies Visit Gomovies.