Directed by: Danny Boyle
Written by: Alex Garland
Cast: Cliff Curtis, Cillian Murphy, Michelle Yeoh, & Chris Evans
Runtime: 107 min.
Rating: R
Trailer

Event Horizon meets 2001: A Space Odyssey. That is what some of the British press would have you believe. Yet, Danny Boyle’s latest science-fiction film is more of the former and a lot less of the latter. However, that is not necessarily a bad thing. What Sunshine lacks in philosophical profundity and supposed spiritual transcendence, it more than makes up for in claustrophobic tension and thrills. The visual splendour of the film is to die for. The sun is dying, bringing a winter chill over the earth. A group of eight astronauts aboard Icarus II travel to the sun to detonate a Manhattan-sized atomic bomb with the hopes of reigniting the dying star. After a previous mission failed to achieve the same goals (gee, maybe calling the ships Icarus I and Icarus II was a bad omen), the new crew hopes to finish the job, practically setting out on a noble suicide mission. Boyle’s artistry really shines here, especially in creating a believable environment aboard the ship. Movies in space have a certain look to them, thanks to Stanley Kubrick and Ridley Scott. They are either giant industrial oilrigs, crowded with steam pipes, twisted metal, and grey, drab colours like in Alien, or they have 2001: Space Odyssey’s precise, steely detachment. If the characters of Alien are described as truckers-in-space, Danny Boyle and Alex Garland (long-time Boyle muse and screenwriter: The Beach, 28 Days Later) create the math club equivalent. The crew of eight astronauts are passionately dedicated to their cause, regardless of their odds of success; their commitment in the mission translates well for the audiences’ acceptance of Sunshine’s ridiculous plot and third act twists and turns.

There is a morbid dread and inevitability palpable to the crew of Icarus II and the film’s audience. It is a journey into the unknown, where the familiar – the sun – turns upside down into a solar body with the ability to simultaneously save humanity or kill it. Boyle uses this dichotomy effectively, accenting the dread with riveting action, claustrophobia and suspense, while systematically revealing a spiritual grip the sun’s proximity has on the crew, especially Searle (Cliff Curtis), who begins to crave the intensity of the sun from his protected window, despite the hideous sunburns he develops. Sunshine is so assure of its narrative tropes and in such good hands with Boyle at the helm, it manages to keep you on the edge-of-your-seat in not only the brilliant set pieces involving gold-covered heat shields and dicey space walks, but in something as simple as a mathematical errors made by one of the crew. The stakes are so well established, and the sense of dread and atmosphere so pervasive, the film impressively grips you from the opening moments and manages not to lose steam, despite the premise. Let’s see Michael Bay try and pull that off!

Thankfully, the filmmakers resist pandering to the audience with saccharine character flashbacks and stories of Mom’s homemade apple pie. All of the actors, including Cillian Murphy, Michelle Yeoh and Chris Evans, are believable in their roles, playing understated but admirable scientists and technicians, without resorting to vacant hero posturing. They are professionals who think of only the mission and its consequences. The actor, however, who surprisingly steals every scene he is in is Chris Evans (the Human Torch in Fantastic 4), who plays Mace as a realist hell-bent on finishing the mission regardless of the sacrifices he has to make. His practical and often insensitive decisions surrounding the mission are regularly antithetical to what the crew wants to hear, but for an audience used to the typical science fiction conventions, Mace’s pragmatic professionalism skills are a welcome change. That Evans pulls it off while retaining the character’s sympathy is impressive. Much has been said of the film’s last act, which I will not get into for fear of spoiling the surprise. In all honesty, though, I don’t really know what to say, other than it was exciting, if a tad derivative, but wholly appropriate to the spirit and natural progression of the film’s themes and plot. Sure, the ending is not as sophisticated as Tarkovsky, but I think putting Boyle on that lofty pedestal is unfair and unnecessary. What Boyle and Garland have created is a gripping and unbearably tense film that, like their previous collaborations (notwithstanding The Beach), transcends genre filmmaking and sets the standard for those walking in its footsteps. Maybe Sunshine does have a lot in common with Alien and 2001 after all.

Richard X
© Cinephile Magazine, 2007

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