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In
the year 2057, the Sun is dying and mankind faces extinction.
Earth's last hope lies with the Icarus II, a spacecraft
with a crew of eight men and women led by Captain Kaneda.
Their mission: to deliver a nuclear device designed to reignite
our fading sun. Deep into their voyage, out of radio contact
with Earth, the crew hear a distress beacon from the Icarus
I, which disappeared on the same mission seven years earlier.
A terrible accident throws their mission into jeopardy and
soon the crew find themselves fighting not only for their
lives and their sanity, but for the future of us all...
Sunshine
is one of those films that, by rights, I should love. It's
a British made sci-fi flick that, while made on a fairly low
budget, has all the hallmarks of a Hollywood blockbuster.
Unfortunately
at no point does this film stray from the conventions set
out by a 101 clichéd sci-fi movies that have gone before.
A distress signal from a deserted space craft; a deadly threat
that hunts the the crew down one by one; and crew members
sacrificing themselves for the rest of the team are just three
of the well worn plot threads that are used as crutches in
this film.
Sunshine
nicks all the decent ideas from Alien, 2001: A Space
Odyssey; and Solaris and still manages to deliver
a lack lustre story that has the viewer not really caring
whether they all die or not. Apart from Benedict Wong - I
still love his performance as Errol in 15
Storeys High.
But
what really annoyed me, more than anything else, was that
I really should have loved the film. The script is tight and
has some very moving scenes; the photography is beautiful;
the special effects are impressive; the acting is faultless;
and the director does a great job of putting everything together.
It's just that I felt like I was watching a movie I'd already
seen before. There were just too many scenes that reminded
me of other film.
While
I found chunks of the movie a little ambiguous I was pleased
to see that both the actors and director where also unsure
as to what was really going on. Without spoiling anything,
one of the crew dies. Director Danny Boyle's audio commentary
tells us they were murdered, while Dr Brian Cox's commentary
followed my first thoughts - that the person committed suicide.
While Boyle states that the murder was cleverly staged to
look like a suicide, Cox, like myself, was left asking how
the murderer would know his victim was on suicide watch. Cox
also reveals that the cast themselves were divided on the
subject too.
The
extras are pretty impressive though. We kick off with two
excellent audio commentaries - one by Boyle and another by
Cox, who was the science consultant on the movie. I have to
say that Cox's commentary is one of the best I've heard. He
really goes into depth about the science behind the movie
- while still keeping it simple enough that those without
any real understanding of science can keep up with him. Although,
he delivers probably the biggest downer to ever make its way
onto a DVD commentary. Basically, without going into it too
much, every living thing is ultimately doomed. With the universe
expanding at an exponential rate, eventually there will come
a time where there is no life at all anywhere in the Universe.
Now that's a theory to keep the kids awake at night.
Other
extras include Deleted Scenes (19 mins); Web Production
Diaries (46 mins that are broken down into mini featurettes);
two excellent short films; Theatrical Teaser and Theatrical
Trailer.
While
all the ingredients are there for a satisfying movie, at the
end of the day I'm afraid I just didn't warm to this film.
Darren
Rea
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