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379 out of 518 people found the following review useful:
Sunshine - rather good.., 16 April 2007

Author: Grandma Death from United Kingdom

Sunshine cost £20 million. Jerry Bruckheimer and his Hollywood cohorts must be shaking their heads in disbelief. Danny Boyle and Alex Garland, British born and bred, have outdone America's effects laden finest, and at a mere fraction of the price. Armageddon ($140 million) and Pirates of The Caribbean 2 ($225 million) have nothing, nothing on the majestic visuals that Sunshine offers. From the jaw dropping opening sequence to the fantastically realised final moments, Boyle's latest is a mighty treat for the eyes.

But of course, effects do not make a film. You need only consider the two aforementioned Bruckheimer blowouts for proof. But happily, behind the blinding visuals, Sunshine has a violently beating heart. One that offers absolutely no let up, that gains speed and then gains a little more, before finally threatening cardiac arrest. You can't help but live and breath every moment of the crew's breathless existence.

The year is 2057 and a select group of astronauts are given that most trifling of tasks. The sun is dying. Drop a bomb in it. Save all of mankind. And to top it all, on a ship rather ominously named 'Icarus II'. Add inevitable inter crewmember tension and you have a rather heated situation. The sweaty crew are played wonderfully by a decidedly un-starry, but talented cast. Cilian Murphy, taking the lead role as the ship's resident physicist Cappa, the only member who has the wherewithal to actually drop the bomb, is coolly enigmatic as ever, the blue orbs of his eyes forming a nice counterpoint to the never far rather redder orb of the sun. You can't help but feel he isn't particularly challenged as an actor, but nevertheless he provides a suitably ambivalent, androgynous and faintly unsettling core to the proceedings.

Perhaps more impressive is Chris Evans. Recently seen in a similarly hot headed role in the undercooked comic book adaptation 'Fantastic Four', he consistently snatches scenes from Murphy as engineer Mace, about as volatile and fiery as Cappa is composed and cool. Without Evan's energetic performance, the film would sink into an anti-libidinal quag. Mace's emotive instability injects pace when it's needed and brings some welcome variety to the otherwise glum faces. Evans is surely on the brink of big things. A small quibble would be that there are perhaps a few too many characters; meaning that a fair share of the cast never really gets a chance for development, which is irritating, as one gets the feeling that there's a lot of wasted potential.

Another chink in Sunshine's spacesuit, is in many places, Alex Garland's screenplay. Whilst he has a remarkable talent for creating intense psychological tension, of which there is plenty in Sunshine, his philosophising is much less satisfactory. This is not to say he doesn't play with some fascinating ideas. With the crew circling so close to the Sun, to the giver of life, Garland begins ask the biggest of questions. Is there something, something inestimably greater than ourselves, something that could create such a magnificent star, or are we, like the sun, simply dust? It's a great idea, but for the larger part of the film, it seems oddly shoehorned into what is at base a sci-fi pot-boiler. In fact these ideas are better expressed in Boyle's imagery. Time and time again we see members of the crew staring aghast at the immensity of the burning ball of gas and dust in front of them. The relationship between giver and taker is better explored here than in any line of Garland's.

The structure of his screenplay is also a little unwieldy. The first hour and a half play as an intense psychological study - the pace at times painfully weighty as the tension is ratcheted up ever higher. The film works beautifully here - it may not introduce anything particularly new; claustrophobic stress is certainly nothing new in sci-fi, but it follows genre conventions with such panache and artistry that it's difficult to fault. However, come the final 20 minutes, Sunshine takes a rather abrupt and unwelcome turn. A pretty hammy (not to mention poorly explained) plot twist is ushered in and suddenly we find ourselves in a horror film - a clichéd one at that. To say much more would spoil things, but needless to say, had the filmmakers showed a little restraint in the closing moments, they would have had a real classic on their hands. When the film ditches pretensions, and sticks with the clammy, slow burn thrills it excels at, it's fantastic. When it descends into predictable melodrama, it's still alright, it's just disappointing considering what we know it's capable of. As such it's remarkably well shot, superbly rendered, occasionally poignant and occasionally flawed. Whatever the case, Sunshine is never far from entirely thrilling, and, all said and done, film recommendations don't come much higher than that.

339 out of 457 people found the following review useful:
Nearly there, 6 April 2007

Author: Sevenmercury7 from United Kingdom

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

I'm sure many reviews will say something similar: This is two-thirds of a great sci-fi movie. Specifically, the first two thirds. Natural characters, intelligent dialogue, stunning visuals; I was thoroughly immersed in this philosophical disaster movie in space. Heck, even the moody, modern, sentimental score worked.

The central premise concerns humanity's last hope for survival: the Icarus II (EXTREMELY dumb name for a ship travelling to the sun, if you remember the Greek legend), whose crew must re-ignite said star with a nuclear bomb the size of Manhattan island. It's distant future stuff, but the filmmakers work hard at establishing plausibility. They certainly achieve it. Impressive.

Cast-wise, it's an eclectic group. Cillian Murphy gets the starring role, and he's good. Maybe it's just me, but he always looks slightly psychotic - something to do with the eyes perhaps? Anyway, he's a quirky and soulful leading man.

Nice work by Michelle Yeoh, Rose Byrne and Cliff Curtis. Not one weak link in the multinational cast.

I thought Chris Evans stole the acting honours. Despite his character's hot temper, he gave gravitas to every decision, and they included some pretty big ones. He's the pragmatic member of the group; logic's on his side, and he knows it.

The introduction of Icarus I to the second half of the story (the previous ship that mysteriously failed) is not handled particularly well. The crew's decision to deviate from the mission is a poor one, and has disastrous consequences. Later on, a horror element is introduced which is just laughable. All the filmmakers' hard work peters out in a third act of blurry shots, shaky cams and incomprehensible cuts.

Overall, 'Sunshine' is a real mixed bag. Director Danny Boyle and his cast work hard to create a believable scenario. The special effects really are special. I think the fault here lies with writer Garland, whose third act is derivative, contrived, and not worthy of the rest of this fine film.

369 out of 572 people found the following review useful:
A terrific study in sanity, 5 April 2007

Author: Mr_PCM from Sheffield, England

How would we cope under the most extreme circumstances imaginable? That is the question posed by Danny Boyle's latest offering, and the answer seems to be that anybody can be pushed over the edge, it is just a question of what and how much it takes.

Danny Boyle seems unable to settle on a genre specialty, but it also seems that whatever he turns his hand to he can make work (with the exception of romantic comedy - A Life Less Ordinary anyone?). In his latest, the sun is dying, and we join the 2nd attempt to try and restart the star by delivering a nuclear bomb to kick-start it. Having been alone in space for the past 16 months, the eight-man crew is approaching its destination, but nerves are starting to fray. Then they pick up a signal rom the ship that made the first, unsuccessful, attempt. Inevitably they go and investigate, and problems ensue. When the inevitable disaster occurs, jeopardising the mission, we begin to see how people deal with extreme circumstances, and how their sanity is affected, in different ways. Elements are recognisable from Alien, Solaris and Event Horizon, and the film certainly benefits from all of those influences. The claustrophobia, the understated technology, the dark corridors, the unseen menace, all recognisable but effectively used.

This is not a typical science fiction per se. There are no aliens, no space battles, and no ultra-advanced technology on show. Instead Boyle chooses a more philosophical tangent, leading to questions of exactly what defines humanity, and the value of a single life weighed against the future of mankind.

The casting is excellent, with many recognisable but no particularly famous faces, the biggest names being Batman Begins' Cillian Murphy and Fantastic Four's Chris Evans. This lack of star names, combined with a cast of only the eight crew somehow makes the loneliness and the feeling of being a huge distance from home with a long way to go seem even more real. We really begin to feel with the crew as they try to hold it together long enough to complete their vital mission. Cillian Murphy in particular is a piece of inspired casting, as in many of his roles he has always appeared on the very brink of insanity anyway, so he has the close-to-crazy act down to a tee.

The CGI of the sun is extremely impressive, particularly considering the relatively low budget of the film, and the simple but intense story has viewers on the edge of the seat virtually from first act to last. The suspense is built gradually but extremely effectively, to the extent where you can feel your sanity heading the way of the astronauts' as the conclusion approaches with increasing speed.

Overall a very effective study in what a tenuous thing sanity is when faced with huge odds and a great threat. Thrilling, gripping and thought-provoking, and another genre nailed by Boyle - now if only he could crack that pesky rom-com!

381 out of 597 people found the following review useful:
A crew of eight tries to save mankind from freezing to death, 4 March 2007

Author: D B from Austria

I was very lucky being able to get into a preview of this movie today in Vienna. I only knew very little about it in advance, so my expectations were quite neutral.

One word of advice: this movie is not for nitpickers or physicist. The plot outline (i.e. detonating a "stellar bomb" inside the sun) sounds ludicrous at first - but if you're able to ignore this and some other scientific nonsense, you get one great movie.

This one is all about the details and the crew's behavior. Danny Boyle once again proves his insight into the human psyche as he portraits how the crew-members handle the various arising problems, some of the decision-making is displayed frighteningly realistic compared to other movies in the genre. Cillian Murphy (brilliant as ever) and Chris Evans (hated him in Fantastic 4, but showed a great performance here) pair up very nicely during most many scenes.

The entire movie has a certain feel to it, the atmosphere is very tense and Boyle manages to keep the pace at quite a high level the entire time. Visual FX are at a high level as well.

Apparently Sunshine can't deny the influences from 2001 or Event Horizon, nevertheless it should be treated as an independent film.

A few deductions for some glitches and the scientific stuff, otherwise great entertainment!

329 out of 549 people found the following review useful:
To say there is nothing new under the sun is usually apt in sunny Hollywood, but not this time, 22 April 2007

Author: Flagrant-Baronessa from Sweden

With a suitably international and diverse cast to simulate the equivalent crew onboard the Icarus II ("Icarus I" didn't fare so well), director Danny Boyle fledges a science fiction that gains momentum at its very first image – and does not halt until the end credits roll. To be perfectly frank, this is one of the most unbearably exciting films for whose entire duration I have ever squirmed in my seat for at the theatre.

On a mission to re-ignite the sun by detonating a bomb ("the size of Manhattan island", Cillian Murphy's physicist nods to American audiences and cause me to suffer horrible flashbacks to Armaggeddon's "it's the size of Texas" assessment) human lives are expendable and rationalized by rank. There are scientists, astronauts and various specialists on Icarus II who are all poised on the brink of sacrificing themselves for the greater good of mankind. Diverse in the sense that there are both men and women, and few characters are 'black or white' (morally, and physically), it does puzzle me that New Zealanders, Aussies and Irishmen have been arbitrarily converted into Americans. The crew is nevertheless highly impressive and professional, with a few minor exceptions for plot-propelling purposes, like when someone does something very stupid.

There is noticeably a tremendous visual sense throughout "Sunshine" with a screen that is awash with sparkling explosions and each frame saturated with bright colours and dimmed contrasts. There is no genre-transcending perhaps, and most probably its visuals are under the mercy of dating effects, but for now this is truly the crème de la crème of science fiction, take my word for it. Even the cinematography within the spaceship alleys and chambers is compelling and sweeps through Icarus II with great tracking shots. Amongst other films, Danny Boyle was inspired by Das Boot and certainly there are traces of the same claustrophobia underpinning the setting, but ultimately he opted for a more habitable environment to make it believable (like humanity would ship off its only hope with a crummy, crowded old vessel).

To justify the occasional bouts of sci-fi clichés, I'd like to firstly point out that it's not like "Sunshine" traffics in stereotypes or resorts to formulaic elements, and secondly that I believe certain clichés have evolved for a reason – they quite clearly stand the test of time. There are within science fiction some staples that are simply necessary to define its genre, such as the dutiful human sacrifices to up the drama, the internal mutinies to instill the uncertainty in the operation, the nightmarish conditions onboard the ship to suck you in, the technical jargon of velocities and shield angles that spits like bullet-fire to give the film a firm scientific footing, and finally the epic music to elevate suspense. "Sunshine" incorporates and melts together all of the aforementioned, but in militantly non-formulaic ways that only add to the experience. As a potent example, there isn't just pedestrian classical tunes recycled from 2001 and filtered through {insert rote Hollywood composer here}'s score – it is puffed full of beautiful piano crescendos that are almost incongruous to the sci-fi vibe, and the cumulative effect is wonderful.

"Sunshine" is sporadically blemished by minor faults, such as when Murphy's Law is being followed a bit too rigorously to up the excitement. Luckily, all of this is washed away or camouflaged when Boyle serves up his next goosebumps-inducing, gasp-eliciting spectacle – be it a horror twist or an impossibly epic action stunt. On the topic of the former, and clearly the chiasma at which "Alien" comparisons have been drawn, there is a magnificently creepy horror/mystery vibe interlacing the story in space. On top of this, Danny Boyle also dabbles in existentialism (a little too much if you ask me), making this into one of the most ambitious sci-fi turns ever made. In this way, maybe "Sunshine" is not primed to collect awards or even serve as meat for mainstream Hollywood, but I think it's safe to crown it the "Alien" of the 21st century.

8 out of 10

299 out of 492 people found the following review useful:
I couldn't find the "off" switch for my brain, 6 May 2007

Author: chaney1888 from United States

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Two things up front: Firstly, anyone who's read this far into the reviews knows the plot of this thing (astronauts chucking a bomb-- if not themselves-- into the dying sun in order to revive it). Secondly, the following is as disjointed as the film it addresses.

So many glowing reviews I've read for "Sunshine" seem to center around the idea that one must simply give in to the power and majesty of the film's visuals. That is to say, one must in the presence of "Sunshine" emphasize oohing and ahhing over thinking.

I'm sorry: I can't do that. Ironically, if "Sunshine" were being touted as a dumb bit of fluff, I'd be far more likely to take it at face value. But "Sunshine"'s makers and culties have trumpeted their darling as a slice of intelligent sci-fi, oh-so-rare these days, etc.

Frankly, it's not. That "intelligent" thing. Not a bit of it.

Thoughts: If you hire a physicist to act as a consultant on your film, and if your screenwriter concocts backstories for your characters, and if you house your actors in bare-bones student digs and send them up in airplanes that permit them to experience zero-g, all so that they feel like "real" astronauts, and if all that consulting and all those stories and all that experience don't end up on the screen-- i.e., if you expect us viewers to mine the film's websites for this science and these tales-- then you as a filmmaker (that means you, Mr. Boyle) haven't done your job. Simple.

We don't know who these characters are, so we don't care about them. Sure, Rose Byrne has her teary brown doe-eyes, so she captures an instant sympathy vote, and Hiroyuki Sanada draws us in with his calm and his silky voice. But the rest of 'em? Cillian Murphy comes off as a stoner and a bit of a jerk, and Chris Evans tries desperately to make something of the "duty" card he's been dealt, but the rest of 'em are ciphers. Alex Garland seems to think that character development is for sissies-- or that it's certainly not important if you have a Big Idea (here "Our Lives Are Secondary to the Saving of All Humanity, Dontchaknow"). I politely suggest that he's dead wrong. If we don't give a rat's patootie about the characters, we certainly won't care about the idea in the service of which they're acting.

And not only are they ciphers: they're inconsistent, too. Early on, Mace goads Capa, the only one capable of operating the stellar bomb (in itself a ridiculous idea: what, in sixteen months, Capa couldn't train a backup to turn the key and press the "LAUNCH" button? Job security, I guess.), into performing a highly dangerous repair job outside the ship. Then, later, when he and Capa and another of the Icarus II's hapless crew must execute an ill-advised human-cannon trick between two crippled airlocks (a situation that falls squarely between "Don't ask." and "What the hell?"), Mace insists that Capa take the only available spacesuit, as he's indispensable to the mission. Sure, Mace earlier may have been feeling piqued and petty, Capa having pulled a bit of a careless dumb with regard to their window for sending messages home, but the fact here is that it's not my job to make Mace's excuses. It's Mr. Garland's job, and his script simply doesn't deliver.

Don't try to cover up the paper-thinness of your story by snowing us with special effects. It's insulting and annoying. Just how many useless beauty shots of the Icarus II does this movie contain, anyway? Not one of them helps us to know where we are on the ship. Also: if you can't afford the effects you wanted for your third-act mad slasher (did I already mention the "Don't ask." thing?), don't try to cover by shaking the camera and overexposing your shots every time said slasher is on screen. That takes "annoying" clear up to "blatantly irritating."

Smart people creating jeopardy by making dumb choices or nonsensically arbitrary decisions is less likely to evoke sympathy than smart people who find themselves in peril because of natural disasters or mechanical catastrophes. That is, a supposedly smart guy who makes a calculation that leads to half a spaceship going up in flames is less likely to earn a "You poor people!" from me than, say, a freak solar flare that leads to half of said spaceship going up in flames. And have I mentioned yet how much I despise selectively "smart" computers? As in, a computer that talks to you and calls you by name and yet can't tell you when half your spaceship has just caught on fire? (Not that it's entirely the computer's fault here, the fire thing: it happens during one of "Sunshine"'s many randomly placed beauty shots, so it's quite likely that the computer, like the viewing audience, isn't sure if the ship that catches fire is actually the Icarus II, the ship on which Our Story is taking place. "Oh, look: there's a ship on fire over there. Hey-- do you smell smoke...?")

Selective flammability: Not only do Capa and the film's Mystery Slasher not burn up when Capa, hoping to effect a desperate getaway, yells "Full sunlight!" in the observation lounge of the Icarus II, the lounge itself doesn't burn up. By comparison, when the show's nutter psychologist (again: don't ask) tries the "full sunlight" thing, he burns up just fine, thank you.

So: who gets the star? It's a split: Chris Evans, who tries so desperately to be the voice of reason (if only for a moment) on this ship of fools, and Underworld and John Murphy, who were obviously watching a much more intelligent, moving, and dramatic film when they concocted the score.

Even though it's rare to see a movie so lovingly misconceived, you'd be wise to give this a miss. Dumb, depressing, muddled, and thoroughly unentertaining.

177 out of 252 people found the following review useful:
Misfired, 5 April 2007
Author: Harry T. Yung (harry_tk_yung@yahoo.com) from Hong Kong

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Coming from the director-writer team that brought us the imaginative, creative "28 days later", "Sunshine" is a disappointment. It's as if the movie makers, halfway through making the movie, got hit by some mysterious radiation or virus and abruptly changed their mind, turning a space epic adventure with promising potentials into a space horror B-movie. Permit me to elaborate.

I like the cut-and-dry, no nonsense opening, when we see the crew of eight, after 16 months in space, arrives a week ahead of schedule at the edge of the "dead zone" from which communication with Earth is no longer possible. Their mission is to re-ignite a dying sun with an explosion, something that the previous mission 7 years ago failed to do. In similar movies, there is invariably a build-up showing the background, the assembling of the team, establishing characters and conflicts, and so on. Doing away with all these preliminaries in "Sunshine" is a courageous thing in itself, showing the movie makers' confidence that whatever they put on the screen will be spellbound for the audience. For a moment, they seem to be right.

There are one or two interesting parameters. No pain has been spared in driving the point home that the Sun, while the source of all lives on Earth, is at the same time the deadliest of enemies, particularly at close range. And yet the fascination it has on the crew (especially two of them) is almost hypnotizing. This theme has been consistently reinforced throughout the movie. There is also careful depiction of the psychological impact of prolonged isolation on some of the crew members.

The key turning point of the plot is the discovery of the vehicle lost 7 years ago and the decision to make a detour, not to check for survivors, but to collect the unused bomb so that the mission will have two chances instead of just one. So far so good. Mishaps happen along the way, naturally. In this genre, the audience in prepared to accept a certain degree of weak logic. But as incredulity develops to mind-boggling proportions you begin to lose interest. For example, how can you believe that an expert who carefully calculates every detail of the mechanism for changing the course forgets to take into consideration the effect of the deadly Sun, something that is more critical and fundamental to their survival than water and food? But all these mounting plot holes are dwarfed by the complete shift of the movie from a save-the-Earth mission to a space horror. Even worse, this is not a space horror that is firmly rooted, such as "Alien". The plot twist in "Sunshine", despite the elaborate packaging, is a sloppy devise of four words: one guy gone crazy.

The characters in "Sunshine" stand out neither more nor less compared with those in movies such as "Armageddon", "Deep Impact", "Core", "Mission to Mar" or other ones you might think of. Cillian Murphy is completely wasted here. He gets a better deal even in "Red Eye".

On the technical plane, this movie is not bad. Images, sound, editing, score all contribute towards the creation of an atmosphere of tension. You would like to put aside your reasoning capacity and enjoy it. But when your tolerance is stretched to a breaking point, this movie become memorable, for the wrong reasons.

250 out of 411 people found the following review useful:
The spotted mind of the eternal Sunshine, 13 April 2007

Author: gundognc from United Kingdom

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

The combination of director Danny Boyle, writer Alex Garland and actor Cillian Murphy should have meant that Sunshine was the best film of the year so far. Sadly it's meaningless drivel.

There are two kinds of space movie. The first are those with shooting and/or aliens (Star Wars, Serenity, Alien etc). Then there are those in which the focus of the film is on people going mad in space for no well explained reason (Solaris, 2001, Silent Running etc). Sunshine falls into the latter category. If you've knowingly seen a Tarkofsky film then go and see Sunshine - you're bound to be able to find some spurious justification for why it was meaningful.

*Spoiler*

A group of ethnically diverse astronauts are in the final leg of the second and last mission to chuck a cosmic paint can into the sun in an attempt to "restart" it.

Nothing much happens until the crew discovers that the ship from the first mission is still orbiting the sun. The crew then decide that they'd rather be in "Alien" than "Solaris" and go to investigate. Naturally someone is still alive on the original spaceship. This surviving loony has a god-complex, a bad case of sunburn and the ability to blur film. He kills everyone except Cillian Murphy who manages to detonate the bomb and everyone on earth is saved - hooray.

Apparently:

1) Sentient super computers aren't very good at providing useful information such as "there's an extra person on board" or "shall we make sure the mirrors are adjusted before turning the ship?".

2) Vitally irreplaceable sections of space ships often explode and/or catch fire for no reason. Providing backup systems (or even fire extinguishers) is apparently pointless and unnecessary.

3) Computers that rely on complex liquid cooling devices to function do not require emergency shut offs. Or spares.

4) Gold lame space suits are in.

5) All derelict space ships should be investigated in case they contain plot devices.

6) If the sun is going out restarting it will be a doddle.

*End Spoiler*

There are some people who may decide this is THE in thing. Me, I'd rather watch Space Truckers again... and that's saying something. I'd give it some points for the special effects but really, given that none of them serve the story in any useful way, I cannot even justify that. 1/10

345 out of 605 people found the following review useful:
Danny Boyle successfully reignites the sci-fi genre!, 19 March 2007

Author: soulmining from United Kingdom

After reanimating the zombie genre with 28 Days Later, director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland now turn their attention towards science fiction - with equally startling results.

Sunshine is unequivocally the best sci-fi movie in a very, very long time. I'd echo the other comments on here - it mixes elements of 2001: A Space Oddessy with Event Horizon, then adds the tension of Alien. This is NOT the gung-ho action of Armageddon, The Core et al.

The film just throws you straight into the space mission, there's no background to worry about, only these 8 crew members headed towards the sun. The great thing about this cast is that there's no "superstar" billing, so you're never sure who is going to make it alive to the end of the film! The actors are uniformly good, with Chris Evans in particular deserving much praise. Michelle Yeoh delivers a very understated performance, very different from her ass-kicking Asian roles!

Danny Boyle has always been good with characters but with Sunshine he really steps up a level. Visually this film is astonishing and literally had me open mouthed at times. The production design, costumes, the sound design, the music from Underworld... they all combine to give the viewer an amazing cinematic experience that you'll want to watch for a second time, just to take it all in.

Whilst it's an exciting, tense film to watch there's no denying the serious point of Sunshine's message. It's a film about preserving the future of mankind and the sacrifices that have to be made in order to do that... and it will make you think long after the credits have rolled.

A fantastic achievement - one which deserves to be seen on the big screen when it opens worldwide. 9/10

315 out of 558 people found the following review useful:
Fascinating Film, 23 March 2007

Author: Amanda Scott (slytherinsdoitbetter) from United States

I am not a sci-fi fan. I've seen a few sci-fi films, but I don't flock to the nearest cinema to check them out. The only one I own on DVD is Alien vs. Predator, and that's only because it was three bucks at the video store and I needed a fifth one. I haven't seen 2001 or Event Horizon, and I don't remember anything about Alien. I saw Armageddon in 1998, when I was eleven years old, and I just remember being embarrassed at that scene with the animal crackers.

That being said, this film may have turned me into one of the sci-fi fans. If nothing else—if seeing a film that explores more than just "action" on screen isn't your kind of thing—the film is gorgeous. The shots of the sun are some of the most fascinating bits of effects I have ever seen in any sort of film, not only sci-fi. The film is set only fifty years into the future, and therefore the technological aspects of the set are relatable rather than hard to imagine.

The characters are well developed, and the actors are top-notch. Every single performance is phenomenal, and I was even a bit taken aback by how much I enjoyed Chris Evans's portrayal of Mace. Everyone seems to have taken the time to learn about the science and about the psychological factors of being with the same people for so long (most likely due to the fact that Danny Boyle sort of forced them to), and it shows on screen. The characters are all real, and although none of us know what it would be like to be in space and alone for sixteen months, there are aspects of them all that are immediately relatable.

The plot is secondary. That doesn't mean that it isn't well thought or anything like that, but the human drama and psychological journey of the characters is the primary concern in the film, and the fact that they are going to re-ignite the sun is merely the background story that puts them all together in the first place. There are far more triggers that ask the audience to think about their life and the life of mankind and of the universe itself than there are for the audience to question, "Well, how did that just happen?" The film asks us to have a brain and be willing to use it.

Sunshine is a religious experience. It is very personal and is a very unique experience to each member of the audience. It is incredible, awe-inspiring, intense, and one of the most beautiful pieces of film I have ever seen. Danny Boyle, Alex Garland and Andrew Macdonald have done it again. A+.

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