Compelling
Summary
Sunshine has some great performances and an engaging, riveting story that kept me interested throughout. However, it’s slow to begin and features some regrettable editing choices.
Plot: Eight astronauts man the Icarus II, a ship with a bomb meant to re-ignite the sun, which is dying.
Review: Sunshine was one of those movies I would think would interest me, but I never caught it for some reason. Part of that has to do with astronaut movies – I’m hit or miss on them. While I enjoy Gravity and the Martian, I have never revisited other notable astronaut movies, like Apollo 13 or Interstellar. So, astronaut movies aren’t a slam dunk for me to like them.
Sunshine features an all-star cast, including Cillian Murphy, Chris Evans, Rose Byrne, Benedict Wong, Michelle Yeoh, Cliff Curtis, Hiroyuki Sanada, and Mark Strong. With that amount of star power, you would expect the characters to be terrific, and you’d be right. There isn’t a single character in the movie who isn’t well-thought-out or portrayed. If I had to pick a favourite, I would (maybe surprisingly) say it was Curtis, who is underrated as an actor. His performance as the quietly obsessed doctor who you think will be the villain, only for it not to turn out that way, was the most pleasant surprise in the film. However, all the characters are unique and played well, and there isn’t a single bad performance in the bunch.
The movie is well-written. There is a contrivance near the end that seems impossible to explain, but I chalk it up to a movie-ism. The film is taut and suspenseful, the tension palatable throughout the movie, and I was glued to my seat for the most part. The film is a little slow to begin, which hurts its pacing but doesn’t significantly hinder it. When the movie gets rolling, it doesn’t let up.
What does hurt the movie in my eyes, though, is the manner of some of the editing choices. Danny Boyle directed the film, and he’s a terrific director; I think he went a bit overboard in a few places, though that was entirely unnecessary. For example, he gives the villain character (who I won’t reveal here) this weird effect of being blurred and overly saturated throughout. Why? Possibly because the character is naked, and Boyle didn’t want to show them as such? Possibly. But it’s jarring. Likewise, there’s an investigation scene where he flashes character photos on the screen. Again, why? It makes sense in something like Fight Club, where such a thing is discussed, but in this movie, it comes off as pretentious. Add some shitty quick cuts (I didn’t know if Rose Byrne’s character had died or not at one point), and it’s an inexcusable detriment to the movie.
As for other things like effects, score, etc., the CGI wasn’t always the best (especially in some shots of the ship), but it was generally okay. The score is nothing to write home about, which was a shame; a movie like this demands a great score to rachet up the suspense. The sets were decent, with my favourite being the oxygen garden.
Do I recommend this movie? Yes. It’s got a great set of characters and an intriguing, suspenseful plot to keep you engaged. Maybe the editing choices won’t bother you like they bothered me; it’s the kind of pompous filmmaking that annoys me at times more than it would others. Give this little hidden gem a shot; you’ll probably get some value from the viewing.