REVIEW: Sunshine

(above) The crew of the Icarus II have a round table debate about the future of their mission (from left: Chris Evans, Hiroyuki Sanada, Cliff Curtis. Michelle Yeoh, Benedict Wong, Rose Byrne, and Cillian Murphy)


Sunshine "shines" above previous sci-fi outings!
Danny Boyle marks the return of psychologically-minded science fiction

Rating: A

Of all the different science fiction genre films out there, the ones that seem to be the most overused and poorly made are the films whereby teams of scientists and astronauts work together in a desperate attempt to save the planet from certain destruction. This list includes such films as Armageddon, Deep Impact, Red Planet, Mission to Mars, and The Core, to name a few. After over a decade of these disappointing genre films, Danny Boyle’s Sunshine marks the first humane act for the genre, and science fiction in general since Ridley Scott’s Alien.

After single handedly reviving the genre of zombie films with the sleeper success of 28 Days Later, Boyle brings the same brooding atmosphere, original storytelling, and visceral editing to his newest thriller. He delivers a thinking mans sci-fi film that combines the better elements of previous incarnations and improves upon them with a story that takes us where none of these films has even gone before, the Sun.

Taking place in a distant future where the sun is dying and has left the world an arctic wasteland, mankind’s last hope rests on the shoulders of 8 astronauts whose mission it is to reignite the sun, on a ship aptly named the "Icarus". After a previous team of astronauts disappears prior to completing its mission, the film opens 7 years later as a new team is a mere days away from accomplishing their desperate task. Everything seems to be going according to plan until the previous teams ship appears and a rescue attempt ensues. From that point on the film takes a turn to the both disastrous and horrific. While feeling reminiscent to some of the darker horror elements of “Event Horizon,” the filming and narrative style remains uniquely Boyle’s. He keeps it feeling quite fresh and original as a tense psychological thriller that examines the effects of traveling so close to the giver of all life; as some members of the crew become addicted to the sight of the sun, as if they themselves are starring at God.

Whereas many directors feel the best way to thrill and engage an audience is by gratuitous gore, violence and in your face voyeuristic scares common to today’s string of horror films, Boyle is able to deliver a better and more intense, edge-of-your-seat thriller (minus the violence and gore) through clever editing, effects and camera angles. From the very beginning of the film, before everything start to take its inevitable bad turn, Boyle creates an uneasy atmosphere where at any minute something could go wrong and leaves the audience waiting for it to happen but never ready for it when it finally does. Also with a story that seems to demand an explanation as to how the Sun could possibly “die” or how one could even consider “reigniting” it, Boyle gives none and by the time the film is over you don’t even really care. The movie is told in such a way that it is less about the science and all about the journey, the relationships, and the dangers that come about during a mission destined to travel to the most volatile surface in the known galaxy.

Sunshine also makes very logical assumptions about psychosis and obsession that fit very well within its far fetched premise. For example the crews psychiatrist prescribes hours in an “earth simulator” for those crew members suffering from cabin fever, the psychiatrist himself and other crew members develop an addiction to staring at the Sun, which makes sense in a world where the sun could potentially no longer exist.

As far as the performances, everybody delivers. Each actor is very capable of making the most of their screen time and establishing each one of their characters as independent from one another, unlike most of these genre films where all character have the same general admiration for each other. Chris Evans especially is able to deliver an engaging character as the ships engineer who wants nothing more than to complete his mission. If there was any question as to whether Evan's deserved to be in movies, his performance as an exemplary soldier, both resourceful and heroic as he is willing to do anything for the sake of mankind, keeps the film moving in its slower moments. Also, Cillian Murphy never seems to disappoint in his now second outing with Boyle (previously starring in Boyle’s 28 Days Later). As the team’s physicist, it’s Murphy’s project, and in the end the fate of mankind rest in his plan succeeding when it could just as easily fail. As for the other characters they could all use more screen time, but hey, you can only do so much in two hours.

Created as a “love letter” to psychologically minded science fiction, Danny Boyle and screenwriter Alex Garland deliver an exciting trip where no man has gone before while at the same time using the journey to the Sun as a metaphor for traveling to the source of all life and in a sense making the journey God.. In the end the Sun itself becomes a character as it represent the one thing that is innate in all creatures, the drive to survive at any cost as well as the fragility of all things, great and small. It’s easy to get swept-up and go along for the ride when even the visuals bring something new to the genre, including some very cool looking golden space suits. My only hope is that more sci-fi films are able to follow the example Danny Boyle has set by proving that just because genre might be used, doesn’t mean it’s all used up.


To get a stronger sense of Danny Boyle's vision from his own lips check out this url: http://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/movies/20070708_BOYLE_FEATURE/blocker.html