SUNSHINE
/
2007
DIRECTOR: Danny Boyle
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Alwin H. Küchler
WRITER: Alex Garland
BUDGET: GBP26,000,000
GROSS: $34,806,360 (worldwide)
It’s 50 years in the future and the sun is dying. A team of astronauts, scientists and experts were sent to reignite the sun and save humanity on earth. They failed and were never heard from again. Now, seven years later another group is sent on the same mission. Sunshine is their story. From director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland - the team behind 28 Days Later - comes this really interesting sci-fi experience.
Mentioning that these two were the guys behind 28 Days Later is more relevant then you may think. No, the space ship doesn't turn into a breeding ground for flesh eating zombies infected with 'rage'. However, the film does switch half-way or so through its running time, from its philosophical sci-fi beginning to add a sci-fi horror twist to the proceedings.
I have to admit this did turn me off at first. I have nothing against sci-fi/horror, but I was really enjoying the slightly slower paced, idea driven film that I had been watching. It kind of reminded me, just a little, of Kubrick's 2001 (but just to be clear - it isn’t close to as good as 2001).
Kubrick’s film is long and slow and absolutely brilliant on so many levels, while Boyle's movie tends to move much quicker from one 'mishap' to another. While this did, initially, turn me off, Garland’s script is strong enough to handle the pace and yet still create an audiences attachment to the characters and the ideas behind the surface story.
While watching the film I kept thinking that they weren't giving me enough time to just 'think' about what it all meant before the next action set-piece started. In the end, they actually did.
Now, that isn't to say that the horror element still didn't feel a little out of place, cause it did. However, it didn't ruin the first 2/3 of the film and wouldn't stop me from recommending it.