2007.
The sun is dying. The only theoretical option is to crew a ship and drop a stellar bomb the size of Manhattan into the center of it. Sunshine is the story of Icarus II, the last remaining ship bringing a bomb to our sun, the last hope for mankind.
Directed by Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire, 28 Days Later) Sunshine sits atop most sci-fi space films for being a truly smart and personal film that happens to involve (very effectively at times) space travel and the problems that can lie therein.
The film stars the likes of Michelle Yeoh (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), Cillian Murphy (Batman Begins), Rose Byrne (Knowing), Chris Evans (Fantastic Four) and Hiroyuki Sanada (Rush Hour 3). On paper the casting seems to be all over the place, but there is a distinct and necessary chemistry between characters in this movie. How much of that is due to Boyle’s direction is up in the air as the acting seems inherently solid and believable.
With credible science in its fiction and an intriguing story that subsequently affords the plot innumerably deep and philosophically intriguing questions and tension, Sunshine persists on being an intelligent yet visceral experience. What would you risk if you knew our sun was dying and you were the only thing left in the known universe capable of saving it?
If you’re looking for a good movie that may have slipped under your radar and you’re tired of some of the dribble you’ve been spending money on lately, the visually stunning Sunshine is a tried and true film with tremendous reticence.
Great effects in this movie, no doubt. I yawned through the rest though…