Sunshine

Written by Tom Clare in Film Reviews, Thursday 13 March, 2008

Released: 2007
Genre: Science-Fiction
Certificate: 15
Country: US
Director: Danny Boyle
Format: DVD

With Brit classic Trainspotting and box-office smash 28 Days Later already under his belt, director Danny Boyle turned his attentions to science-fiction in 2007. The result was Sunshine and, given his previous record, the relatively mute reception it received must have come as something of a disappointment.

Not least because it makes for a highly enjoyable hundred-or-so minutes viewing. It may have come with the same brand of glossy presentation and troop of photogenic actors that have come to typify such mediocre fare as Red Planet and Serenity, but with a complex and interesting storyline, thoughtfully-crafted atmosphere and top-class cinematography, Sunshine makes for a far more notable film than it has generally been given credit for.

It can tentatively be described as 2001: A Space Odyssey-meets-Alien, set against a backdrop of the most apocalyptic of disaster movies. Set in the near(ish) future, the story centres around the eight-man crew of Icarus Two, a space-station/ship headed for our dying sun, with the intent on detonating a gigantic bomb (the ‘payload’ as it is referred to) close to its surface in a last-ditch attempt to give the star new life.

Following two years of journeying and having almost reached their destination, the crew are amazed to discover their predecessor ship Icarus One in orbit and intact near to the sun – spookily, it had been considered lost seven years previously and still sported fully working life-support systems. When Icarus Two sustains shield problems and irreparable damage, the crew is forced to dock with their earlier iteration to discover the reason for its apparent sabotage.

The cinematography and special effects are tremendous – combining to make Sunshine one of the most visually attractive films of its type. Several scenes take us to Icarus Two’s Observation Deck; an area where several members of the crew make visits to gaze morbidly at a filtered (though nevertheless empowering) image of the sun. Its ethereal quality and the psychological significance it imparts on the crew means it never feels misused – indeed, it comes to symbolise the sum-total of their hopes whilst also remaining (as we are frequently reminded) their greatest danger – its bewildering power, despite its dying state, hints at the apparent insignificance of the individuals lives, something they come to realise as perceptions of death are explored in some detail. Though the image of the sun is a recurrent feature of Sunshine, neat editing and camera-work help to retain and enhance its cinematic effectiveness; particularly the outstanding ‘dream’ sequence that sees Capa (Cillian Murphy) continuously falling through fire, a scene brilliantly recreated in the latter stages. The editing is superb at times also, pacing the action ideally and keeping things ticking over with some beautiful graphic matches that make use of a surprisingly diverse range of colours and objects. The boarding of Icarus One is intercut with jarringly-brief images (no more than a few frames) of the doomed crafts crew – so brief that you’re not sure you’ve seen them first time around, transforming an otherwise quite typical scene into something rather more macabre.

The sets match up pretty well too; whilst not especially original, the interior of Icarus Two is clinical and nicely fleshed-out even if it’s rarely as eye-popping as the special effects. The most evocative location on show however is the jungle-esque habitat used for growing food, the design making for a remarkably unusual mix of high-tech science and nature.

Sunshine’s suspense doesn’t lie in its use of monsters or gore; often what makes it compelling is the threat of machinery and ship systems going wrong (there’s even a creepy talking computer that pays direct homage to 2001) – at such times the feeling of isolation dominates proceedings, hope draining from the crew as they move through space, millions of miles from civilisation. Normally by this stage in a film review I would have identified lead characters, but though there is a tentative bonding between Capa (Cillian Murphy) and Cassie (Rose Byrne), it’s far from a focal point – Sunshine has been shot in such a way that the viewer is given insight into each of the eight crewmen in surprisingly balanced proportion; the circumstances onboard the spaceship before the equilibrium is disrupted shows there to be no superheroes, thus the hazards that inevitably lie in wait seem all the more pronounced.

Sunshine achieves the façade of a blockbuster production despite its limited budget. If you consider that $140 million went into making Armageddon and less than $40 million on this vastly superior film, it’s impressive what has been achieved.

Of course, Boyle didn’t have to stump up paycheques for the likes of Bruce Willis and Ben Affleck. Most of the acting talent on show here will be only moderately recognisable to most cinema goers and though none of the actors’ performances run as deeply as the storyline, Cillian Murphy, Rose Byrne and former-Bond girl Michelle Yeoh are among those that compliment the bigger picture well.

The first hour or so is finely constructed, so that by the time the crew reach Icarus One you’ll be totally engrossed. Each characters role is put across in simple terms, as is much of the story, which is no mean feat given that many of the plots elements make for quite a departure from the sci-fi norm (if there is such a thing). It’s hard not to empathise with the crew as their situation begins to deteriorate, they face up to a broad range of emotions, and its difficult not to get caught up in it all.

Where Sunshine loses marks – and in the opinions of many, entirely fails – is in its last half hour or so. The aforementioned promising start poses plenty of questions, though by the end you are left with the lingering feeling that rather too many of them have been left unanswered. The well-judged pace the film had been maintaining suddenly starts to fragment into hurried action-scenes, and the sudden shoehorning of conventional horror-in-space elements (read: Alien plagiarism) seems something of a cop-out. Sunshine could potentially have benefited from a slightly longer running time to allow for a bit more to weight to this ‘second phase’, though the sudden dose of action may still have made for an uncomfortable fit. It does recover to a degree however with a poignant and apt finale, bolstered once more by some blistering (literally) visual effects.

Though the second part of the film isn’t anywhere as near as intriguing as the first, Sunshine nevertheless makes for a fascinating blend of science-fiction and horror. It’s a fair bit more cerebral than the majority of its competition and, for the most part, a lot more thoughtfully-crafted. Recommended.

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