Tasha Robinson over at the AV Club coined the phrase "cast-attrition thriller" to describe this film and it is very apt (so apt I didn't realize she just came up with it). When you come down to it, this film didn't have the courage of its convictions, or the depths of its pretensions (using pretension positively almost to mean "aspiration"). If this film had never involved people running from the sun and burnt-up weirdos and suicide etcetera it would have been much much better. Instead there are a lot of new-age-y generic spiritual statements about sunshine that never amount to anything much beyond "it's real pretty and there might be something more to it than that." None of the characters even have a back-story, much less a story; they all just have allotted traits doled out at about one per person. Aggressive guy, caring girl, moral man, man of science, cowardly lion, ms. ambivalent, etcetera. Then there are some situations which are meant to be meaningful but fall short: if Rose Byrne isn't willing to vote for killing the guy, why doesn't she offer herself instead? Then they can find the other guy has done it already, but take a stand! Another problem is that the character's strange feelings about the sun never spur them to do anything like what happens to the crazy captain of the other ship. No sun ever talks to any of them. The only reason they don't carry out their mission is because their math-guy messes up and doesn't have anyone to double-check his work (which is unlikely). And then Icarus doesn't think it's worthwhile to mention there's a new person on the ship until someone thinks to ask. And how about the psych-screenings for these astronauts? And why can't they just add another 100 years to the timeframe in this or in Minority Report? There's no way we'll have that technology in 50 years.
The visuals are spectacular and Boyle certainly knows how to just make a movie entertaining. He delves into his bag of tricks to keep tension during exposition, blasting you with light, near-subliminal cuts, etcetera. While the limitations of the material do not allow for any great performances he at least gets competence all around (even from Chris Evans, who thankfully avoids the case of the Facinellis he's threatening to come down with, although I don't buy him as macho-macho man, he's too short, and while everyone is fawning over his "gravitas" I thought he came across mainly as petulant, they just like his beard).
This film really can't avoid comparisons with "Supernova" and "Event Horizon," both of which squander early conceptual strengths by falling back on "picked off one by one" plot mechanics and "trait-allotment" characters then succumb to awful audience-tested or arrived-at-by-committee endings. At least it's better than Soderbergh's "Solaris" remake, "Armageddon" and "The Core." I really wish this film had been directed by Douglas Trumbull or Chris Marker.
It's a shame, because "Millions" seemed to suggest Boyle had at last found the consistency that has thus far eluded him from film to film and often within the same movie; it is all the more disappointing because of the great potential in the material. For example: there are hints of a relationship between Capa and Cassie; in the original script there was a "sex in the greenhouse" scene that was cut. So it was either sex or nothing. They couldn't just show them showing affection, or even just huddling close for comfort. Chris Evans' character first volunteers Capa for a life-threatening mission, then sacrifices 2 lives to make sure he's safe. That bipolar blindness comes close to explaining why it fails as a thought-provoking movie, because we aren't really given any reason to believe the sun is really talking to the crazy captain and he never gives an adequate explanation of why it wouldn't want to be re-powered if he's doing its will, it just trusts that he says he's been talking to it so we'll think he might have been and presto: deeper movie with an excuse to rehash old "hunt and peck" tropes. Boyle needs: A) a better writer B) to do more adaptations and C) to make longer movies, strange to say; both this one and "28 Days Later" gave me scriptlash (ooo, I just made that up, too, deeelicious).
However, as I said the visuals are stunning (as is the glitchy music), the shots of eyes and the sun never get old, and Murphy's performance as a "greater-good" scientist is pleasingly off-center as always. His best moment in the film: everyone turns to him to make the big important decision that could kill them all and he says, exhaling under his breath
"$#it." This will be remembered as an ultimately unsatisfying film that seems to know it is failing, and tries to make it look like it's failing because it's trying to do too much, when it actually isn't trying to do enough.
5 out of 12 found this helpful.
Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
Tell Your Friends