Sunshine (2007)
3/4
Starring: Cillian Murphy, Chris Evans, Rose Byrne, Cliff Curtis, Michelle Yeoh, Hiroyuki Sanada, Benedict Wong, Troy Garity, Mark Strong
Rated R for Violent Content and Language
Danny Boyle's 2007 is as close to an art film as a $40 million budget will allow. That it ends with a conventional thriller ending was either due to studio interference or a creative compromise on the part of director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland to actually get the film made. It's hard to believe that ending what is essentially an existential art film with a slasher going bezerk was the original vision of either man.
Not so very far into the future, the sun is slowly dying. Facing extinction, humanity launches Icarus I with a theoretical payload to reignite the dying star. It fails. Humanity tries again with Icarus II. On board are Haneda (Sanada), the captain, Cassie (Byrne), the pilot, Corazon (Yeoh), the biologiost, Searles (Curtis), the doctor, Harvey (Garity) the comms officer and second-in-command, Mace (Evans), the engineer, and Trey (Wong), the navigator. Also on board is Capa (Murphy), the physicist. These eight men and women are the last hope for humanity.
Things are going relatively smoothly, aside from the stresses of being in a cramped space with the same people for an extended period of time. Not to mention the weight of their mission. However, as they near Mercury, they find a mysterious signal. Realizing it's the Icarus I, they have a decision to make: continue on mission or risk failure by attempting a rescue and retrieval of the previous mission's payload. Because this is a scientific decision, Haneda leaves it up to Capa, who reluctantly agrees that a rescue is the best course of action. That's when things start to go wrong.
For a movie that is so philosophical, it's surprising how thin the screenplay is. Especially considering that Alex Garland wrote and directed one of the best science fiction films in recent years, "Ex Machina." The dialogue is sparse and character development is minimal. We don't know much about these people, and the gravity of their mission is mainly what we as the viewer give to the film. A script with more depth could only have helped the movie.
At least the acting is good, not that the actors have much to work with. Boyle filled his cast with rising stars of mostly Asian/American nationality, believing that they'd be the space superpowers in the near future. Standouts include Cillian Murphy, Hiroyuki Sanada (duh) and Benedict Wong. Michelle Yeoh gets far too few roles in the US these days, so your guess is as good as mine why, since she had the option of choosing any role in the film, she chose the small role of Corazon.
"Sunshine" moves along at a brisk pace, engaging the mind and the eye, and only with a few hiccups. Then comes the one hour mark. That's when things take a turn for the conventional. A movie like this doesn't need to end with a madman going bezerk. Adding insult to injury, it's poorly done. It doesn't always make sense and Boyle adds in freeze frames and jump cuts that detract from the experience. Boyle has always been a hip and energetic director, but this is just self-indulgence (something he has been guilty of in the past).
Still, there's good stuff here. It's never boring and even the climax has its charms (as silly and poorly conceived as it is, it generates tension, which is something that many "legitimate" thrillers fail to do). It's a tough call, but if I had to choose, I'd go on the "thumbs up" side. With reservations.
Starring: Cillian Murphy, Chris Evans, Rose Byrne, Cliff Curtis, Michelle Yeoh, Hiroyuki Sanada, Benedict Wong, Troy Garity, Mark Strong
Rated R for Violent Content and Language
Danny Boyle's 2007 is as close to an art film as a $40 million budget will allow. That it ends with a conventional thriller ending was either due to studio interference or a creative compromise on the part of director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland to actually get the film made. It's hard to believe that ending what is essentially an existential art film with a slasher going bezerk was the original vision of either man.
Not so very far into the future, the sun is slowly dying. Facing extinction, humanity launches Icarus I with a theoretical payload to reignite the dying star. It fails. Humanity tries again with Icarus II. On board are Haneda (Sanada), the captain, Cassie (Byrne), the pilot, Corazon (Yeoh), the biologiost, Searles (Curtis), the doctor, Harvey (Garity) the comms officer and second-in-command, Mace (Evans), the engineer, and Trey (Wong), the navigator. Also on board is Capa (Murphy), the physicist. These eight men and women are the last hope for humanity.
Things are going relatively smoothly, aside from the stresses of being in a cramped space with the same people for an extended period of time. Not to mention the weight of their mission. However, as they near Mercury, they find a mysterious signal. Realizing it's the Icarus I, they have a decision to make: continue on mission or risk failure by attempting a rescue and retrieval of the previous mission's payload. Because this is a scientific decision, Haneda leaves it up to Capa, who reluctantly agrees that a rescue is the best course of action. That's when things start to go wrong.
For a movie that is so philosophical, it's surprising how thin the screenplay is. Especially considering that Alex Garland wrote and directed one of the best science fiction films in recent years, "Ex Machina." The dialogue is sparse and character development is minimal. We don't know much about these people, and the gravity of their mission is mainly what we as the viewer give to the film. A script with more depth could only have helped the movie.
At least the acting is good, not that the actors have much to work with. Boyle filled his cast with rising stars of mostly Asian/American nationality, believing that they'd be the space superpowers in the near future. Standouts include Cillian Murphy, Hiroyuki Sanada (duh) and Benedict Wong. Michelle Yeoh gets far too few roles in the US these days, so your guess is as good as mine why, since she had the option of choosing any role in the film, she chose the small role of Corazon.
"Sunshine" moves along at a brisk pace, engaging the mind and the eye, and only with a few hiccups. Then comes the one hour mark. That's when things take a turn for the conventional. A movie like this doesn't need to end with a madman going bezerk. Adding insult to injury, it's poorly done. It doesn't always make sense and Boyle adds in freeze frames and jump cuts that detract from the experience. Boyle has always been a hip and energetic director, but this is just self-indulgence (something he has been guilty of in the past).
Still, there's good stuff here. It's never boring and even the climax has its charms (as silly and poorly conceived as it is, it generates tension, which is something that many "legitimate" thrillers fail to do). It's a tough call, but if I had to choose, I'd go on the "thumbs up" side. With reservations.
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