Infernal ‘Sunshine’ is For the Forgetful Mind: Danny Boyle helms a shipload of clichés with ‘Sunshine’

When I heard Danny Boyle was directing a science fiction space movie I was stoked. It just seemed to be a perfect fit. Boyle has demonstrated his expertise directing the breakdown of human social order with such films as Transpotting, The Beach and the masterpiece 28 Days Later. I assumed the final frontier would be the perfect environment for humanity to show its underbelly. What I never predicted was that Sunshine would be a terribly disappointing movie, but alas it is. It is especially troublesome because you can tell there is great talent behind every frame of this film. From the seemingly interesting characters and thrilling premise to the stunning visual effects, it’s amazing how far from the mark this movie ventured. But instead of playing towards the films strengths, Boyle and Co. went after every overused space motif they could find and cut and paste the film together like a last minute plagiarized term paper. There is a phenomenal sci-fi classic in there somewhere, but as is this film is an utter catastrophe.

So many moments in Sunshine are blatantly regurgitated from other sci-fi films, it’s as though Boyle hoped you’ve never seen any before. I recognized scenes from Supernova, Armageddon, Deep Impact, The Abyss, Mission to Mars, Alien, Aliens, 2001, Sphere, Event Horizon, and even Nightmare on Elm Street. I suppose you could make an argument that Boyle is paying homage to countless sci-fi films, but I don’t think that’s true when these scenes stand in as plot points instead of throw away winks and nods. Boyle is a visionary filmmaker and there are several elements in Sunshine I loved. But I can’t let this movie slide knowing its director reinvented the Zombie genre with one of the scariest movies I’ve ever seen. Mr. Boyle can do better.

The film started off on the right foot as we become acquainted with the crew of Icarus II, a spaceship on a mission to deliver a ‘payload’ of nuclear bombs that will shoot into the sun and hopefully reignite its dwindling blaze. The sun is dying and these astronauts may be our last remaining hope before Earth is just another frozen wasteland. I loved this concept and became even more excited when I found out that the first Icarus ship disappeared without any warning. Then we meet Searle (Cliff Curtis), Mace (Chris Evans), Capa (Cillian Murphy), Coranzon (Michelle Yeoh), and Cassie (Rose Byrne) the main crew members of Icarus II who add somewhat believable astronaut chemistry to the film. It’s a little hard to buy that 26 year old Chris Evans would be an experienced enough astronaut to hold the fate of the world in his hands, but who am I to claim to know the inner workings of NASA. Regardless of the young ages of certain members of the crew, Boyle had so many great ingredients to work with and I’m convinced he has it in him to make a great film about this subject. But before long we have special effects for effects sake and the mission becomes a hokey rehash of those movies I listed earlier.

The Icarus II mission was going along fine until the crew discovers the whereabouts of the lost Icarus I and has to make a decision of whether to leave it or attempt a rescue. The decision lies in the hands of Capa who decides that it will be worth rescuing the first mission so they have an extra payload in case theirs fails. Mace finds this plan very frustrating because the crew has to alter their present course, putting the mission to save Earth in jeopardy. These humanity risking decisions lie in the hands of the crew members because they conveniently are out of range of contacting Earth. You would think a decision with this amount of magnitude would have to lie in the hands of a president or at least a presidential advisor that would be here for situations like this. Maybe that’s just wishful thinking on my part.

When they embark on the mission to save Icarus I we begin to set into the cliché zone. The ship itself is interesting enough, if not totally original. It looks like a giant contact lens covered in tinfoil with a long ship sticking out from where you put your eye. Its convex surface reflects the sunlight keeping the ship from sizzling in the sunrays. The crew does encounter problems on their new mission and the reflective surface needs repairing. These scenes are similar to the comet bomb drilling scenes from Deep Impact where they must race against the sun before they burn to a crisp. Icarus II also has a Hal like computer the crew uses to communicate with the ship. The films overall look is a cross between Alien and Event Horizon, consisting of mostly space station meeting rooms, command centers, and lonely hallways with abysmal lighting. When the crew explores the interior of Icarus I, I was immediately reminded of the scenes from The Abyss where the interiors of a crashed submarine are explored by flashlight. I was expecting crabs to scuttle from the ship’s grimy corners. But what’s worse and more unforgivable than Sunshine’s repetitive feel, is that it’s not thrilling or scary and it is at many times boring. A lot of the writing is pedestrian at best as we listen to the astronauts argue about payloads, sunlight and the slipping oxygen supply. SPOILER: After the mission of exploring Icarus I is accomplished, the crew re-boards their original ship to find that an evil member of Icarus I is alive and he begins to sabotage the new mission. If that wasn’t silly enough, this guy is so badly burnt his face bears a similar resemblance to Freddy Krueger. This guy is so remarkable he is simultaneously as fragile as an octogenarian yet as durable and powerful as the Terminator. And if any one remembers Supernova (all three of you who saw it) I don’t think I even have to point out its similarities to Sunshine’s ending.

Maybe I’m too hard on sci-fi movies. Most of the time, they are either great or terrible. The great ones are able to show us something we’ve never envisioned before like The Matrix or Minority Report. The good ones are at least entertaining. Sunshine accomplishes neither. But like I said earlier, there are things I loved about this movie. Mace was an interesting and complex character. I thought I had him pegged as the selfish macho dude, but really he was a dedicated selfless professional. Nice surprise there. I also liked Coranzon as the greenhouse keeper who adds a pragmatic and naturalist viewpoint to the crew. I even admired Boyle’s emerging theme of human’s self destructive desires and obsession. And Boyle’s style is visually interesting with his use of out of focus shots and one second frames of Icarus I victims. But this hodgepodge of talent and cliché is so irritating, I can only express my deepest disappointment. Let’s hope this crash landing was just a fluke.

C-