Sunshine (2007)

Invincibility in the film-making industry is a rare thing. I'm starting to realize that with each new film I watch this summer. Even directors that produce classic after classic will have their duds - it's inevitable. And such is the case with the normally-reliable Danny Boyle. His latest film, the futuristic sci-fi adventure Sunshine simply doesn't achieve the same quality of his previous standouts Trainspotting and 28 Days Later. The reason? It's just too inconsistent, feeling at times like a great film and at others like a stinker.

In Sunshine, the year is 2057, and the Sun is dying. A group of astronauts is sent with a mission to deliver its payload and revive the star, saving humanity in the process. In this group, we have some Boyle veterans - Cillian Murphy and Rose Byrne - along with the ever likable Cliff Curtis, who contribute to the movie's enjoyable side. But at the same time, there is also Chris Evans, who should be kicked out of Hollywood and put into manual labor. The rest of the characters, unfortunately, receive too little screen time and thus we don't get that emotional attachment to them the way we traditionally do in Boyle films.

In these sort of sci-fi mission/adventure films, there will always be some conflicts, some more predictable than others. (The laws of movie-making with this genre deem it so.) But Sunshine takes that rule into overdrive. Around 2/3 of the way through, we get a plot twist so completely ridiculous that it makes M. Night Shyamalan look tame. It goes beyond unenjoyable; it's almost an insult to our intelligence. Its effect actually echoes one of Shyamalan's excursions - The Village, a film that's moderately enjoyable up until a certain point, at which point you're just too disgusted to watch anymore.

This is all something of a shame, considering that from a visual standpoint, the movie's a knockout. The depictions of the Sun and space in general showcases some top-notch CGI visuals. But as we all know, there's more to a movie than the visual aspect, and unfortunately it's in that land beyond that Sunshine falls flat.

1.5 stars of 4
4.5/10