Sunshine Movie Review

Cillian Murphy, Rose Byrne, Chris Evans; Directed by Danny Boyle

The sun has grown considerably dim and shows no signs of stopping. Humanity is doomed unless someone can think of a way to reignite the star. Capa is one such man. He has devised a bomb that is designed to be shot directly into the sun, which should then theoretically jumpstart the sun. The very first crew they send out into space (on the ominously-named 'Icarus I') disappears just as they near their payload drop off point. Capa sets out with the crew of the Icarus II. When the ship picks up a distress signal from the long lost Icarus II, the crew argue about whether they should divert from their course to investigate and to pick up the first bomb from the ship (so having a second chance at success, should the first bomb fail) or to continue on a straight course. Capa is left to make the decision, and the results of his decision have unimaginable consequences.

Danny Boyle's sci-fi/horror (some people maintain it's sci-fi/thriller, but that's just getting into ridiculous nitpicking), is a work that pays tribute to several sci-fi flicks that have come before it, namely bearing most obvious resemblances to "Alien" and "Event Horizon". Mind you, "homage" never stumbles over the line into "rip-off". It is a reflective and deliberate study of fear and reason. The cinematography is also wonderfully, dare I say, avant-garde with the use of light. Some characters look as though they are walking photo development mistakes, with their body movement eliciting sweeps of overexposed light and motion blur. The film also never overuses the CGI. There is nothing extraneous or indulgent here. Director Boyle seems to have made every decision with care and consideration. It's a tight, visually rich film. I have to confess that I was a bit nervous when actor Chris Evans showed up, only because his track record has been iffy in the past, but he proved to be a fine addition to the cast.

The one complaint (and a very small one it is), would be dealing with that of the ages of the crewmembers of the Icarus II. They seemed to be all fresh-faced 20 and 30 somethings. It is thoroughly unbelievable that not one of them would include a scientist or astronaut with enough years under his or her belt to contribute valuably to a crew with a mission of this great importance. Have the likes of a Jean-Luc Picard or Kathryn Janeway become obsolete? Too uncool? Maybe the logic there is that an older crewmember wouldn't have the physical toughness to endure space travel. Maybe I'm just old-fashioned myself, but I'd rather have a Captain Picard sitting next to me rather than a Chris Evans character. Oh well.

Grading:
Story = B+
Originality = B-
DVD Features = A
Acting = A
Enjoyability = A-
Visuals = A-
Overall = A-