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Movie Notes: Sunshine

May 9th, 2008

Sunshine

starstarstarstar = 4 stars

Starring Cillian Murphy, Rose Byrne, Michelle Yeoh
Directed by Danny Boyle

Synopsis

The spaceship Icarus II is on a mission to drop a huge bomb into a faltering sun, reigniting it to warm the frozen earth.

The Good

  • Stunning, epic visuals.
  • Many nods to 2001 A Space Odyssey (profile shots of space craft, computer changing its mind, and air lock leaps).
  • The crew displays a serious dedication to the mission at the expense of all else – I definitely got caught up in the personal sacrifices for the greater good.
  • Thumbs up for ethnic diversity. Made me wonder about the lack of asian males on Battlestar Galactica.
  • Interesting contrast between extreme heat and cold as a plot device. The sun is blindingly hot but it’s extremely cold in the spaceship’s shadow and in space. Also highlights the extreme dangers of space travel.

The Bad

  • About two thirds through the film, there’s a critical plot shift from sci-fi to horror. Personally, I don’t think it was necessary – seems like there was enough drama in the faltering mission alone.

Conclusion

Many people’s near death experiences involve “heading toward a light.” That could be a metaphysical interpretation of the film – the Icarus II heads toward Earth’s light, in a last-ditch mission to cheat death. The crew is literally voyaging toward their doom. Simultaneously, the sun is the generous source of all life on earth, but also the burning flames of hell that can embroil you alive. Life and death are the same. Unfortunately, this heavy stuff was sort of subverted by that “shift” which if you see the flick, I’m sure you’ll know approximately when it occurs.

Still, I was caught up in the proceedings to see it through to the end. It’s definitely worth a rental.

IMBD: Sunshine
Wikipedia: Sunshine
Rotten Tomatoes: Sunshine

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  • Yeah the fact that there were 3 Asians on board the ship was pretty cool. And the odd episode near the end was really bizarre. It didn't ruin the film, but it did seem somewhat misplaced. Still, I really liked this film. It's great to see the psychological shift in the mission of one in which the crew thinks they're off to the sun and will return home safely to one in which they realize it's a one-way trip. This is head and shoulders above the stupidity that is Armageddon :-)

    I'd be very curious to see what you think of Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later once you get to it.
  • Yeah thanks for the recommendation, I definitely liked it for the most part.
    As for 28 days later - I have a review slated for that as well.
  • I was desperate to see this when it came out but no-one else I knew was interested and being a wheelchair user I couldn't go on my own. I was dragged along to go and see TMNT but it turned out that a friend had gotten the times wrong so I persuaded them all to see this instead ... ;^)

    I bloody loved it and while I agree that the switch was unnecessary, it wasn't enough to turn me off. The visuals were great, the tension was excellent (I was literally holding my breath during the first EVA) and the music was more or less perfect.
  • This was a refreshing change of pace. It's very CGI-laden, but only so much in that it supports the story. There's little graphics fluff that's in there for no other reason than to be eye candy. That's quite rare these days - especially in sci fi movies.

    Really liked Clif Curtis' character. Cliff is one of my favorite low-key actors - he shows up in lots of stuff, but nobody ever seems to remember who he is. There's a huge difference between his role in this movie as opposed to, say, "Training Day" or "Whale Rider."
  • Ah, was he the fellow who was getting a sunburn in the opening scene? I
    didn't make the connection between him and whale rider, that's for sure.
  • Sunshine's been dangling in my wishlist on Vudu for a while now. I keep watching the preview and it's been attractive to me. Think I'll finally check it out this weekend. :)

    I'd be interested in what you think of 28 Days Later too. But also, 28 Weeks Later, which felt more action-y than horror-y in comparison to the first film.
  • You confirmed what my gut was telling me about this title...will be on my list to hire, cheers!
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