Sunshine (2007)

Alright, here's how it is. Main review takes up a huge chunk of the blog. However, if you're looking for a quick synopsis of what I think, the bottom paragraph and mark out of 5 should suffice. Enjoy the review, or better yet: go see the film and enjoy that!

Sunshine is the latest collaboration between director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland which follows the journey of the crew of spaceship Icarus II 50 years in the future on their quest to fire a nuclear bomb into the dying sun in order to reignite it.

Given a considerable amount of thought, the sun is certainly a beautiful thing. The closest star anyone has ever known, and the only one we will ever be so close to in our own lifetimes. It is known and shown by science to be the giver of all life and as such, appears to be living up to its status within many cultures as God. So what if this star, this bringer of all life, this eerily beautiful clump of gas began to die? What would we do? Within Sunshine, the suggested idea is that an Atom bomb the size of Manhattan Island be fired directly into the sun, so as to recreate the Big Bang and save us all. In theory it’s foolproof. But something that really ensures that the audience is enticed is that throughout the film it’s made obvious that it is only theoretical. There is no way to know whether or not it’d work than to try and so throughout Sunshine a very big fear stands out. Even if they succeed with their mission, it could make no difference whatsoever. The Sun could still die out, implode and destroy all of the earth and all life on it. And as well as all this, couldn’t someone have thought of a more encouraging name than Icarus?

Sunshine, frankly boasts what I have no shame in endorsing as the greatest use of computer generated imagery ever. Absolutely every time the sun is shown, it seems apparent that much time has been put into perfecting them. Also, these images are something that I feel has to be seen on the big screen to truly be appreciated. When that great beautiful star appears in front of you, you can’t help but feel as if the light is burning away all that you are unsure of. Essentially, the Sun is standing its ground. The Sun is god. On top of everything else, the magnificent music works with the visuals in order to create a mood that cannot fail to inspire emotion. The perfect clash of exquisite images and emotional music within the a scene in which a character called Keneda ‘meets the sunshine’ and has made its way to the top of my great movie moments list.

The cast in Sunshine is absolutely fantastic. Made up of a few general unknowns and a few A-List Hollywood stars (Cillian Murphy, Chris Evans & Michelle Yeoh) but despite the differing fame status none of them let the film down. The cast itself is definitely an ensemble and it is nice to see a film not flaunt the biggest star as much as it can.

It would be ridiculous to disregard the blatantly obvious themes bought up in Sunshine. The increasing necessity on machines is one that appears multiple times and given that this is a film about the Sun a more apparent idea, science vs. religion is one that is played upon heavily. Overall, the biggest problem within the film appears to be that it doesn’t quite know what its message is. There are clearly quite a few but instead of letting a few stand out, it seems that many are included as fillers instead of giving the same effectiveness as the final overpowering message.

Overall, with a film that can cause as much debate as this one, I think it’s worth seeing just to see where you stand on the whole issue. On top of that though, it’s just a really well made film. It has a great script, terrific direction, some incredible imagery and a stunning cast. The best film of the year so far.

5/5