A colleague of mine had two free tickets to see Sunshine, but due to the lack of an available baby sitter, was unable to attend. So, simply, he asked if I wanted to go. I love movies, and this was a free one, so I jumped at the chance.
50 years in the future, the sun is dying. A team of astronaut/scientists head out to re-ignite the sun with a huge payload of explosives. There’s a catch, though - they don’t know if it will work - and their team is full of loonies. Chief amongst the loonies is the ship’s psychologist who loves nothing better than to sit in front of the observation window, watch the sun, and get really sunburnt. You can tell this is going to be a bit of a wierd journey.
Sunshine immediately reminded me of scifi greats like 2001: A Space Oddessy and Alien. Clean, crisp, graceful, white and glass space hardware and a crew that talk like they’re normal, every day, highly strung people, with the same banter and ramblings of real speech that comes with the stress of having to save the world. I thought I was in for a beautiful, artistic, thoughful, scifi experience. Boy, was I wrong.
Sunshine quickly becomes a typical horror film in which you know everyone is likely to die. There is some great cinematography, though, particularly when involving the ‘monster’ who is out to get the crew. It was very Alienesque in its execution and help add to the mystery and suspense of the film.
That aside, though, the film is a just like a 70s fantasy art wall print- breathtaking space scapes complete with two dimensional characters.
Strangely enough, Sunshine is goingto be a movie I buy on DVD. There’s so much to take in that it’s hard to understand it all in its first watching. I also figure it’s going to improve with additional watching - an important factor when considering buying a DVD for me. It won’t make me feel any more sympathy for the plight of the characters in the movie, or the fact that Earth will die unless their mission succeeds, but there’s just something in it that motivates me to watch it a few more times.
If, like me, you’ve got a big plasma TV and a fantastic digital sound system you could wait til Sunshine comes to your local DVD rental store before watching it.
Sunshine (2007)
Director: Danny Boyle
Writer: Alex Garland
Rating: 2 1/2 stars
