Brit director Danny Boyle is never likely to be accused of being a one-trick pony. His eclectic tastes have seen him tackle thrillers, a children's film, horror and romantic comedy, to name but a few genres. Huge international success arrived for him in 2009, thanks to the Oscar scoop for smash hit Slumdog Millionaire.
Prior to that project, Boyle turned his attentions to Sci-Fi, realising writer Alex Garland's ambitious script.
Journey to the Sun
The story doesn't kick it's heels getting off the ground. Beginning sixteen months into a journey directly to the sun, the international crew of spaceship Icarus II ponder the stakes of their mission: a risky, desperate gambit to deploy a massive charge directly into the dying sun, an attempt to kick-start it back into life.
As the name of the ship suggests, there's been a previous attempt, only Icarus I broke contact seven years before, the fate of that crew uncertain. (Maybe it's tempting fate to name these vessels after that legend - don't the ship designers know anything about mythology?)
Cillian Murphy and Chris Evans Headline Sunshine
The mission goes pretty much according to plan - that is, until a fatal error of judgment pitches the Icarus II at an erroneous one-degree angle, exposing the delicate skeletal structure to the destructive power of the sun. Thus begins an unravelling of ship resources and in turn, crew-member's nerves.
Perhaps inevitably, the doomed Icarus I appears on the sensors, adrift and pointing at the sun. This offers a chance to recover the payload and effectively give the crew two shots at the sun - but an attempt to dock with that vessel will greatly increase the danger to the occupants of the Icarus II.
The crew (including Cillian Murphy, Michelle Yeoh, Cliff Curtis and Chris Evans) ultimately descend into conflict, panic, and in some cases, madness.
The most engaging moments of Garland's script come when difficult decisions have to be made. Often, these calls will put the crew between two evils - what is more important? The life of an individual on the ship, or the success of the mission? As the likelihood of successfully deploying the device diminish, should the crew consider sacrificing one another?
Added to this is a sentient computer with the ability to disagree and over-ride orders it considers to risky. In these situations, the computer can be out-voted, too - but that needs two senior members to agree on another course of action.
A Beautiful Movie - Seriously Compromised
For the first two thirds of the movie, this is compelling stuff. Unfortunately, by the last reel, Boyle and Garland take a decidedly wrong turn.
Eschewing mood and tension for outright horror, the film descends into psycho-shocker territory. To explain further would be to spoil the surprise (and it is a surprise), but this decision doesn't sit right with what went before; it feels forced and misguided. Worse, it isn't done very well, incorporating some rather dodgy visual effects to baffle the audience.
Inevitably, people will question the supposed reality of what they are seeing. Are we seeing into the minds of the crew, or is it actually happening? There's some hurried, existential dialogue, but it feels forced and trite. Proceedings quickly become illogical.
Boyle can reasonably expect the audience to suspend disbelief and overlook the dodgy science to some degree, at least for the first hour, but when matters get decidedly odd, we're left scrambling for adequate explanations. This is where the movie begins to collapse in on itself.
Which is a huge shame, because that first hour or so is terrific Sci-Fi.
Summing Up
The movie follows in the heels of other classic space films, clearly referencing 2001 and Alien (Boyle is a self-confessed fan of Ridley Scott's landmark feature). Themes of isolation, boredom, the daily toil during a long journey - all are present and correct. Devotees of the genre will no doubt check off a mental list of every Sci-Fi convention shown here.
What Garland's screenplay lacks in originality, Boyle more than makes up for in visuals. As the ship lurches ever closer to it's destination, we're treated to spectacular shots of the vessel; eschewing the usual backdrop of star-fields, Boyle uses the sun itself as a backdrop. Eye-wateringly bright light reflects from the massive array of shields protecting the needle-like craft, filling the screen with heat.
Equally impressive is the ship's interior - rich blues and greens dominate the various corridors, hydroponic chambers and navigation areas.
Sunshine on DVD
Inevitably, much of the visual majesty will be lost at home, even in the most impressive home cinema. This was a movie designed to be seen big. Even watched in letterbox format, some scenes push at the very edges of the screen and feel confined.
Where it does succeed for home viewing is with sound. Pumped through a decent surround system, the ambient effects - from a blazing sun to the twisting, groaning strains of the ship's hull - are a treat.
In spite of the inadequacies inherent in the story, Sunshine is a spectacular visual feast.
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