Sunshine

Posted by Greg

February 28, 2008

The Future’s So Slight…

**1/2 out of *****

In the vein of science-fiction films like 2001 and Alien, Sunshine has an epic aura – I mean, how much more ambitious can you get than exploring the infinite inkiness of space, billions of miles from everything you’ve ever known? But unlike the other films, which bent minds and created entirely new genres, Sunshine suffers from a case of borrow-itis, many of its ideas and plot points coming from other films that we’ve seen before. Taking well-worn story ideas and staging them in space doesn’t make them any more exciting and as a result, Sunshine is a well-acted and well-crafted film that’s beautiful to look at, but has a hard time drawing us in to its own reality.

I was really psyched to see this one though. A sci-fi film directed by Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, 28 Days Later) is an interesting prospect, and the terrific, epic trailer set to Clint Mansell’s thundering Requiem for a Dream theme is a work of art in itself.

The movie wastes no time in getting right to the action – a voiceover brings us up to speed and we find ourselves on the Icarus II, en route to the sun. It’s dying, apparently, and a small group of astronauts is on their way to deliver a giant explosive device, which will kick-start our star into shining bright once more. When they pick up a distress signal from the long-lost Icarus I (which failed in its mission, prompting a second try), the team decides to alter their route slightly and rendezvous with the first ship with the hope of finding out what went wrong and possibly acquire a second bomb, increasing their chances of success.

You don’t have to be a master sci-fi fan to figure out that this is where things start to go wrong. A few miscalculations in the insanely complex math involved in the manoeuver damages a part of the ship, prompting a few emergency missions to repair it. Things go from bad to worse when the crew actually makes it onto the Icarus I and find out what caused the failure of the first mission.

Screenwriter Alex Garland gives his audience credit by not dumbing down the script by adding pages of exposition; it’s never explained why the sun is dying or what year it is or any specifics of the ship, the bomb or the state of things back on Earth. Things like that often don’t make sense anyway, so are best left to the imagination of the audience (although cooking a stir-fry in space would probably violate every safety precaution NASA has). The story was mostly solid up until the third act, which is when things got a bit silly for me. I won’t ruin anything, but the ‘twist’ as to what happened to the first mission is pretty lame. It could have been way cooler if they had fleshed it out a bit more and explored some of the bizarre questions it raises, but they don’t.

The biggest name on board is Cillian Murphy (Red Eye, Batman Begins) who plays Capa, the ship’s physicist. His understated and earnest performance earns points; indeed, you don’t even realize he’s the main character until half way through the movie. Chris Evans (Fantastic Four) plays the ship’s… uh… actually, it’s never very clear what he does, although his role is nearly as big as Murhphy’s. The rest of the cast deliver solid performances but are mostly underused.

Sunshine is a visually arresting film though, and there are some magnificent shots that use the harsh light/intense black contrast to good effect. The awesome power of the sun is well displayed in several sequences, especially at the end when we get closer than we probably have in any film in memory.

But to me, it seemed like a sci-fi film that wanted to be as mystical as 2001, as action-packed as Armageddon and as scary as Alien but ended up being not nearly as mystical, action-packed or scary as any. Those looking for cerebral sci-fi might get a small dose of what you’re looking for, but in the end, Sunshine tries to shine brighter than it has the energy for.

Movie Reviews