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The sun is dying—and if something doesn’t happen soon, life on Earth will come to an end.
Seven years ago, a team of astronauts left Earth on a mission to re-ignite the sun—but, for some reason, the mission failed. The astronauts never returned, and they were never heard from again. Now, eight more astronauts are on the same mission. And if they fail, as their predecessors did, the sun will die—and Earth (and everything on it) will freeze.
As the eight astronauts approach the sun, tensions on the ship are running high. Fights are breaking out, and members of the crew are starting to lose their minds. And it only gets worse when the ship’s physicist, Capa (Cillian Murphy), is forced to make an important decision. But the astronauts have to try to remember that the only thing that really matters is surviving long enough to save the sun.
At first, Sunshine seems like just another science-fiction disaster movie. The planet’s in danger, and it’s up to eight people in outer space to save it. But, coming from Danny Boyle, the director of 28 Days Later and Trainspotting, you might expect something a little different. A little edgier. And that’s exactly what you get. Instead of focusing on heavy drama, trying to pull the audience into the deeply emotional facets of the story (like the astronauts’ relationships with each other and with the family they’ve left behind on Earth, as in Armageddon), Sunshine is darker—and Boyle tends to shy away from any kinds of sentiment as he follows his characters as they start to slowly go crazy.
Since I’m not a huge sci-fi fan, it took me a while to really get into the story—but the stunning imagery helped to pull me in. Some of it is simply breath taking, making Sunshine a movie that can actually get by on looks alone. And that’s a good thing, since the story (especially in the beginning) isn’t all that solid. You don’t really get to know much about the characters—or care much about them. But, as I’ve said before, this isn’t supposed to be a dramatic film. It’s supposed to be dark and thrilling. And as soon as the story starts twisting and turning, that’s what it becomes. The suspense begins to build, and as Boyle cranks up the action, the story picks up speed. I only wish that the action had started building a bit sooner—because, in the end, some of the best parts are over way too soon. Toward the end, Boyle adds a completely different element to the story—one that I won’t reveal, since it would spoil all the fun—and it just doesn’t get the development that it deserves. But it’s riveting nonetheless.
If you’re in the mood for a dramatic yet heart-warming feel-good kind of movie, this isn’t it. Sunshine isn’t a big, sweeping epic drama in space. It’s intense and even horrifying—to the point that it’s exhausting to watch. But despite the somewhat underdeveloped story, it’s an absolutely stunning film. The longer you watch, the better it gets—and even a non-sci-fi-junkie like me could appreciate it in the end. But if you’re a sci-fi fan, you definitely won’t want to miss it.
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