Review: Sunshine

So after yesterday's post, the review...

Review: Sunshine (Danny Boyle, 2007, UK/USA)

Danny Boyle is one of Britain's top directors. A varied canon of work have involved the era defining Trainspotting, Zombie rule-book rewrite 28 Days Later, kids film Millions and catastrofucks The Beach and A Life Less Ordinary. With Boyle, you never know what you are going to get. He shifts genres with almost diturbing ease and is also capable of mastering these genres in his first attempt. 28 Days Later was rightly celebrated as breathing life into the zombie genre (Just realised while writing what a shit pun that is) and the film was hailed as one of the best horrors in recent years (and rightly so). Trainspotting needs no introduction. Less well known film Shallow Grave, his debut, is praised as being as storng a debut as many other directors have managed and is a taut, creepy little thriller. His last film, Millions, took him in another directon. A moral fable about the real value of money against that of the soul, this film hoped to lighten children's imaginations but was unjustly cursed with an ever-changing release date and a 12 rating due to some unsavoury activites practicsed by one of the saints who visits the portagonist. So what next for this ronin of Brit flicks? Space of course!!
The sun is dying. And if it extinguishes, so will humanity. To stop this, a "last best hope" is established. By dropping a bomb the size of Manhattan into the Sun, there are educated guesses that it will kick-start the sun but no one knows for sure. As ship phyicist Cappa (Cillian Murphy) says if one day you "See its a particularly beautiful day, you will know that we succeeded". The ship carrying the bom, the Icarus I, is crewed by an international group of astronauts and scientists who upon finding a marooned ship near the Sun, embark on a mission that will decide the fate of the world.
What does the premise of this film remind you of? Armageddon? Deep Impact? I would agree. But to sy that this film does not resemble those in the slightest is a harsh understatement. This film owes more to the science-fiction of the 1970's. Reviews I have read to this point have said that it owes more to 2001, Alien, Solaris etc. i would not disagree. But these reviews have said that it feels like a compilation, a montage of their best moments, more than anything truly original. At this point, I would disagree. It has been argued that nothing in cultrure is original anymore and that it is merely the combination of previous original facotrs. This in itself can be seen to be unoriginal. However, in combing these parts, is soemthing original not created? What if elemts from areas you would not expect are also added to the mix? That is what we get from Sunshine. The film may be obstensibly about saving the Earth and indeed, we are never allowed to forget taht this is wht the purpose of the mission is. But that is not why we are here. That is not what the film is about. It is about more. It meditates on the insignificance of man, about the overwhelming, seductive power of the one thing that both saves us, and has the potential to anihilate us. The Sun. the film does this by maing a perfect balance between visuals and audio. All that is said, is intergral to the plot. There is no bullshit included entirely to make us care. Alex Garland has crafted a screenplay which allows us to see his noevl writing past, his feel for character and events which creates opinions without telling us. We are allowed to think of characters what we will. Nothing is ever done to make us feel a certain way about them. Adding to this, the music in the film, which is blissful and haunting all at the same time, simply lets us wallow in the movie, it is not telling us what the story is, it lets us feel, and think at the same time. The cast are all exemplary. All are likeable in their ways, and everything they go through feels entirely uinderstandable. You may think of a character as a bad person, but you can understand their own justifications. All are beliveable and great turns are put in by all. Chris Evans shows himself as a better action than I thought he could be and brings a real depth to his role. Cillian Murphy also show that he is fast becoming one of the best actors of his generation with a slightly blissed out perfomance that conforms to none of the stereotypes offered by many films of its ilk.
Speaking of stereotypes, one criticism levelled at this film is the third act. It has been said that after such a strong first hour it starts letting itself down. I stongly disagree on this point. Any plot point can work as long as it feels right in the contezxt of the film. i will not reveal it here by what happens sounds horrible on paper. However, with the world that Garland and Boyle have created, the events that happen make a strange kind of sense. The revleation of the "big bad" as such, is done in such an intriguing way and the dialogue given so strong that I just rolled with it. This seemingly unworldly force seems like a real threat in this world and it i to the credit of everyone invlved that it does. Saying this, the film also screams of a kind of realism. A major threat revolves around the use of oxygen, something not seen in many of these films. Much time is taken into talking about the logisitcs of the mission. A fight has to be stopped because the people involved cannot breathe due to the lack of oxygen. What othe film does this happen in?
So Danny Boyle? He has filmmaking down to a tee. The opening shot (love the use of the Fox Searchlight logo) shows that he is playing with the big boys. The production and set design he has chosen and the visual motifs he establishes are simply inspiring. His use of the Sun pervades all the aspects of the film. the retro spacesuits are golden, the Sun itself is an astounding piece of visual effects and the way that much of the film is potrayed in a sort of glare present a world which could only be dreamed of in the 1960's and 70's. This film belongs in the 1960's but the visuals bring it kicking and screaming into the contemporary film world we live in. For example, I could not imagine the quick flashes of various things we see being used in films of the 60's and 70's and Boyle brings these flashes to create both another world for this film to exist (and you during its running time) and to make an atmosphere of severe all encompassing dread. Danny Boyle may be criticised for ripping off the works of old, but I would argue he has added to them and deserves a place with them. On another note, to learnt hat this film was made for 45 million dollars is quite amazing. It honestly looks like a 100 million plus blockbuster. I just hope it makes back on the investment. This is a risky film and to make it is quite an achievement. i can only hope it makes its money back to fund more exciting, exhilariting and inspiring work. In my top 20 of all time at the very least. I expect it to go higher.

Do yourself a favour, see this film, wallow in it, and want to see it again straight away like I did.