Don't you hate it when a movie reviewer says they don't want to tell you much about a film for fear of ruining the experience? Me too. But in this case, it's true. And I'll tell you why. You don't want to know anything about a movie in which 8 people fly a bomb into the sun hoping to reignite the dying star and save all of mankind because the characters in the movie don't know anything about it. Sure, the crew is made up of astronauts, a physicist, a psychiatrist, and other brilliant minds who are the last hope of humanity. They are educated and have planned as much as possible, running drills and knowing their theory backward and forward. But since no one has ever done anything like this, successfully or otherwise, there is no way to know what it will really be like. And that unknown, like all unknowns, is utterly terrifying.
In this case it is particularly terrifying because the fate of Earth hangs in the balance. And while Sunshine is, indeed, Science Fiction, the trailers that played before the film, featuring Leonardo DiCaprio telling us about the dire state of the planet due to global warming, are very real. I don't mean to get all super cereal on you guys, but it's true. The film is even more effective because of the storytelling method. Director Danny Boyle (28 Days Later) and writer Alex Garland (The Beach) just drop you into the action, without the typical Sci-Fi cheesy voice over or showing you first hand a C.G. depiction of the disaster that living under a dying sun caused on Earth, thus eliminating any opportunity for the viewer to be overwhelmingly reminded that this is Science Fiction. Instead, we see a tired but hopeful crew in the midst of their mission, knowing they are the last hope and trying their damnedest not to crack under the pressure of it all. Unfortunately, despite all their training, they are still humans susceptible to human errors in judgment (especially under pressure). And this is one hell of last job.
Many of these errors stem from the theme that while too much sunshine is bad for you, both physically and psychologically, mankind simply cannot survive with out it.
Story aside, the visuals are absolutely stunning, the future technology not at all silly, despite them being on a space ship, the acting subtle and nuanced and Cillian Murphy's eyes as unearthly as ever.
Go see Sunshine right now. The future depends on it.
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