Sunshine - review

Sunshine (15)
Dir. Danny Boyle

Reviewed by Matt Adcock


…Incoming message from 1.2 lightyears out…
For years now we have stumbled in the darkness of a drought, an abyss, a cold hard vacuum of quality space based science fiction (apart from Serenity obviously).
But there is something bright on the horizon, a burning beautiful ball of light that promises to scorch away the rancid memories of Red Planet and Mission to Mars…

With a spirit of burgeoning optimism it was that I walked into the brilliant brightness of Sunshine and let it burn its memorable imprint into my retinas.

Sunshine by Danny ‘Trainspotting’ Boyle is based on an original screenplay by Alex ‘The Beach’ Garland and at first glance it might make you think of 2001: A Space Odyssey only on a more nihilistic and altogether darker vibe. It seems you see that in just fifty or so years our sun will die out and the future of humanity will rely on a select group of astronauts and scientists packed aboard a spaceship named ‘Icarus 2’ armed only with a giant deflector shield and a huge bomb – a bomb designed to reignite our nearest star. So we get to travel with the mix n match crew as they trace the same path of the ‘missing presumed dead Icarus 1’ that disappeared without trace some years before whilst also attempting to plant a bomb on our dying sun.

So far, so Armageddon 2, but Sunshine actually has far more in common with the classic Alien for ‘feel’ and not just because they pick up something rather malevolent en route… But it might just be their battle with the sheer tedium of being trapped in a cabin fever inducing spaceship for months on end that is their undoing… Or then again could there another influence altogether that will undoes their vital mission – it’s gripping stuff that walks the line between pondering mental anguish (otherwise known as Solaris) and kick ass crisis action (echoes of Boyle’s own 28 Days Later).

The Icarus II spaceship is a cool, iconic design and comes handily equipped with plentiful sci-fi cliché specials – tactically placed air locks, an on board AI that might have a mind of its own and of course miles of claustrophobic corridors in which to run, scream, fight and go mental.
The special effects rock too and deserve to be witnessed on the big screen, Sunshine really delivers on all fronts and
Cillian Murphy is worthy of special praise for his perfectly weighted performance.
…Message ends…

Darkmatters rating system (out of 5):

Action öööö - serious sci-fi thrills
Laughs öö – some but limited dark humour
Horror ööö – Boyle has good form for grimness
Babes öö – not what this is all about

Overall öööö (impressive)



"knock knock... who's there? The DARKNESS OF SPACE!!"

Darkmatters: H O M E