Hey, everyone. ”Moriarty” here.
Serious adult science-fiction is a rare thing, and any time I hear that someone’s going to be attempting it, I’m curious and I cross my fingers and hope for the best. Boyle’s one of those guys who can make real magic when he puts it all together, so here’s hoping ...
Hey Harry and Moriarty, Long time reader, first time writer. My friend brought me along to a sneak preview of 'Sunshine' in Westchester, NY earlier tonight (the 13th). This was my first time going to one of these screenings, and also my first time writing a review, so forgive me. I hadn't heard of the movie when they announced it, and IMDB says it's coming out next year. Anyway, it's directed by Danny Boyle, the same guy who did Trainspotting and last year's Millions. The cast is recognizable, but no "big name" stars, including Cillian Murphy, Michelle Yeoh, Chris Evans, Rose Byrne and Cliff Curtis. The guy introducing the film said the effects weren't completed yet, the audio might not match up with the dialogue, etc, etc. The story is this: the Sun is dying, so a team of scientists is sent with an enormous payload large enough to revitalize the sun, and of course, they are humankind's last chance for survival. Seven years before that, another expedition was sent, but failed (and no one knows why). Sounds like you've heard this story before? Well, you have. The story follows nearly all the same plot twists and usual screenplay contrivances that you've seen thousands of times. 'Sunshine' tries to separate itself from the crowd by introducing a philosophical concept into the mix. What's so special about the sun? What will you see when you look straight into it? The movie opens as Searle, the doctor, played excellently by Cliff Curtis (you've seen him in Three Kings and Runaway Jury) is on the observation deck of the ship looking straight at the sun... at 2% intensity. He asks the ship/computer to turn it to 4%, to which it responds that level would burn away his retina, but 3.1% would be OK for a few seconds. Naturally, he accepts and has a near moment of epiphany as the blistering light engulfs him for a few seconds. Essentially, this is what the movie is about. It's a typical 'space thriller', yes, but what it wants to be is a philosophical movie, a spiritual one. Searle, with his skin peeling away from the rays, is obsessed with finding what exactly you can see in the sun. I'll try not to give any major spoilers, but we find out that the old expedition's ship is in orbit around the sun, and they need to decide whether or not to dock with it and use their payload in addition to theirs (reasoning: the whole payload thing is theoretical, two would double the chances of it working). The captain, (Hiroyuki Sanada) gives the choice to young physicist Capa (Cillian Murphy), who decides it's worth it to stop at the ship. You can guess where the movie takes off from here: stuff goes wrong, and slowly they're all killed in various ways. I really can't go any further without giving away spoilers, but I will say the movie turns into exactly what you think it will: SPOILERS. So Chris Evans has a line as they're searching the old ship and they want to split up, "what do you think aliens are gonna pick us off one by one?"... not quite, but the sun's rays, technical difficulties, the vacuum of space, and a crazy fire guy who I think is supposed to be the captain of the old ship will. The movie is reasonable (OK, so you wouldn't live without a spacesuit in the vacuum of space, but thats forgivable) until the time the crazy fire guy shows up. He's (i think) the captain of the old ship and he's been staring at the sun for 7 straight years and he has "seen god". Of course, how he's alive, I have no idea, but his whole thing reminded me of Sam Neill in Event Horizon (not a good comparison). You've been thinking for most of the time that this movie is gonna be something more, it's gonna be 'Alien' except without the scary alien, but no. Instead, what you end up with is a crazy fire guy claiming that he looked in the sun and can't let it be destroyed so he's going to sabotage their mission and kill everyone on board. Yep... I kid you not. This part single-handedly ruined the movie for me. I was so hoping the movie would be something more than the typical fare - but in the end that's exactly what it became. SPOILERS END As far as the performances go, Cliff Curtis and Cillian Murphy were excellent, especially Cliff Curtis. Rose Byrne was cute as Cassie, though the role is largely under written. Chris Evans, playing the tough Mace, should stick to comedy; he's not bad, but the delivery of some of his lines are AWFUL ("oh, don't lecture me about our failing humanity" or something). Michelle Yeoh, as Corazon the biologist (I guess?) is underused. Hiroyuki Sanada as the captain and Benedict Wong as the trajectory guy are both pretty good, I would have liked to see even more of them. The directing is pretty good; Boyle used lots of different angles to capture life in the ship. The editing at some points seemed a little shoddy. There were some points where things where shots were flying by so quickly I had no idea what was going on. Part of that could be because the visual effects weren't finished so it's hard for the eye to catch what's going on. Also, the ending went by a little quickly and I wasn't exactly sure what happened for a second (it seemed to skip a scene), but figured it out. Overall, this movie had a lot of potential. If it stuck to the philosophical side more instead of the typical hollywood contrivances, I would have enjoyed it much more. It's enjoyable, for sure, but that final act character (if you didn't read the spoilers, don't ask) completely ruins the movie. Other than that, I only have minor quibbles (Evans' delivery, some of the physics clearly not believable, etc.). This movie aimed a lot higher than it reached. I suppose Danny Boyle had a chance to look into the sun, and what he found was a mediocre movie trying to be something more. If you decide to use this, call me "Shmouli"
