Sunshine

Year: 2007
Director: Danny Boyle
Cast: Cillian Murphy, Rose Byrne, Chris Evans, Michelle Yeoh, Cliff Curtis, Hiroyuki Sanada, Troy Garity, Benedict Wong

Sunshine follows in the footsteps of many sci-fi space thrillers before it, films such as Alien, Supernova and Armageddon, though some may consider the last one to be a disaster flick. And after having many stories where man takes on extraterrestrial beings, we now turn to one where the sun is the main focus.

Sunshine takes place 50 years from now, when the earth is dying thanks to the sun slowly burning out. A mission is planned, to send 8 men and women to the sun with a bomb the size of Manhattan, in order to reignite the dying star. The vessel that carries the bomb, known as Icarus II, is the second ship sent after the first Icarus failed (must be the unlucky name that caused its demise).

The crew, led by Captain Kaneda (Sanada) consists of pilot Cassie (Byrne), engineer Mace (Evans), biologist Corazon (Yeoh), navigator Trey (Wong), communications officer Harvey (Garity), psychologist Searle (Curtis) and the most important member of the crew, Capa (Murphy), who is in charge of the bomb they're carrying. Everything goes according to plan on their mission, despite a few minor spats among the crew, until Harvey picks up a signal as they approach Mercury. It turns out to be Icarus I, though no one knows if the crew is alive or not. Searle suggests they try boarding it, and salvage the bomb it still carries, thereby increasing their chances of succeeding in their mission. And as expected, this is where Murphy's Law comes into play, and one mishap after another slowly eliminates the crew one by one.

First off, I'll have to give credit where it's due to Danny Boyle. He brings out the best in his cast, and his direction is well-paced. The set design and effects, and cinematography, as in depicting the sun's look as they approach it, is truly impressive. The entire cast perform splendidly, especially Byrne, Murphy, Evans and Curtis. I'm impressed with Evans in particular, for giving an intense and mature performance as the headstrong Mace. It's a very different character from the irresponsible Johnny Storm in Fantastic Four, and he pulls it off well. The others, some who get killed off halfway, use their screen time, however insignificant to their best advantage.

However, if I had a bone to pick with Sunshine, it's the plot. Everything's ok for the most part, until the film nears its climax. Screenwriter Alex Garland chooses to turn the film into a space horror flick similar to Event Horizon at the end, and it kind of spoils the momentum it had. The execution of the ending also wasn't satisfying. Up to that point, Boyle did a good job of making a sci-fi movie with tremendous psychological issues. Then it turns over its head completely and becomes a mess. But the film still is watchable, thanks to the cast's performance.

A good sci-fi film, but only almost on par with the best. (4/5)