Sunshine

Sunshine ***1/2

Directed by Danny Boyle
Written by Alex Garland

Starring:
Cliff Curtis as Searle
Cillian Murphy as Capa
Michelle Yeoh as Corazon
Hiroyuki Sanada as Kaneda
Rose Byrne as Cassie
Benedict Wong as Trey
Chris Evans as Ac
Troy Garity as Harvey
Mark Strong as Pinbacker
Chipo Chung as Voice of Icarus

107 Minutes(Rated R for violent content and language. )
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The bulk of my high rating for "Sunshine" comes from the direction and the cinematography. I will start by saying that "Sunshine" does have a couple of flaws, but on the whole it is an exceptional film for its mandatory theatrical experience. There is just something that will be missing if you tried to watch this for the first time, or any time, on a DVD, or (gasp!) regular television. It's the first film in a while that I could think of that is true science fiction-beyond the realms of fantasy ("Transformers") and something that anybody can see and understand (which is unlike the "Star Trek" movies, none of which I have any desire to see.) And its even directed by Danny Boyle-who shifts genres like he shifts pairs of underwear. He has hit many a-genre in the past few years, going from indie druggie pic, to zombie picture, to family film, and now a sci-fi. Boyle is like the British Marc Forester, in a way. And while I may not always enjoy his films-like my distaste and hatred for "28 Days Later. . ."-I know that "Sunshine" did have a lot of effort into its look and direction. The script, written by "28 Days Later. . ." scribe, did need a little bit of work.

In the year 2057 the sun is dying, and Earth is thrown into a permanent winter-and this is told from the brief shot that we get of Earth. NASA had sent the Icarus I to reignite the dying star seven years ago, but when it vanished without a trace they were eager to send another group to fix things. And they sent eight people into space to create a new star. And while the leader is Searle, and the co-captain is Harvey, there is a large amount of importance bestowed upon Capa-the groups physicist. And there is also a budding rivalry between him and Ac, who is determined to try and lead the group of a success. When the crew comes across a signal that they believe has been brought by the missing Icarus I they debate as to if they should go to it or not. When Capa agrees with the notion that they could pick up the cargo that they failed to deliver and get a second chance when the time comes to complete their mission, the crew makes their way for the signal. And then something goes wrong, followed by a death and an explosion, and it becomes imperative for the crew to make their way to the Icarus I to get more fuel-with all of them scared of being burnt alive, even though their prime goal is to restart the sun-because what is eight lives lost compared to the whole world's.

Now "Sunshine" is a science fiction film in the truest sense of the world, and it does not exactly resort to a fantasy story line to tell a story in space. There is a claustrophobic realism to everything that happens-who knows what nature is capable of doing. Boyle directs every shot with amazing dedication, and the cinematography is brilliant. You just want your eyes to gloss over every single frame-even though I swear that this film can cause damage to your retina. I often squinted just a bit during some of the more bright images. He fills the screen with numerous close ups, mostly of people in a heavy suits. You can't help but sweat with them even if you are in an air conditioned theatre. And its worth seeing "Sunshine" in a theatre just for that-because there is something that the surround sound and the giant screen does for it that a small screen with two puny speakers cannot. The theatre gives "Sunshine" the justice that it deserves.

Alex Garland's script just took away from some of that. The dialogue consists of a lot of "We're going to die," or "We're going to burn up like he did, aren't we?" I found it more fascinating when they kept their mouths shut than when they opened them. I have sometimes marveled at how difficult it must be to write a screenplay like this. After all, there must be a lot of description and technical terms, although I'm sure that it was much more general on paper than it was on screen. At times some of the acting was a bit wooden-mostly by the second and less important members of the crew. Cillian Murphey and the very pretty Rose Byrne were decent enough, I guess, and Chris Evans had his moments-and is much better here than he was in either "Fantastic Four"-but the rest of them just acted as if they were reading from a piece of paper-and they probably were. And because of this you can tell who will still be around halfway through and who will not be. And that isn't a spoiler if you have half a mind.

And once the third act roles along, the true message and purpose of "Sunshine" comes into focus. And things take a 180 degree turn. The end crams the script with the concept of God and humanity. Who are we to go against God's plan? Is there is a reason for the sun to die, and if there is why are we humans going against what nature intended to bring it back to life? And while these ideas are all good and worthy-and I really enjoyed the events of the last half-I only wished that they were spaced out throughout the whole film, and not just crammed in at the very end. I would have liked this to be a running theme earlier on in the film, and not saved for the third act. "Sunshine" is clearly a labor of love-a lot of work went into this project. But the script needed a bit of tweaking, take some speaking out to make it seem a bit more involving, and it wouldn't have hurt to replace just a couple of the actors. It is something to see before it disappears-a true experience and the first real science fiction film in quite some time. Maybe this could turn into a time where moviegoers are treated to more realistic stories about astronauts and the mysterious above called space.