I can't say that I'm particularly attracted to the work of Danny Boyle. I liked 'Trainspotting' and 'Shallow Grave' well enough, but I still haven't seen '28 Days Later' and 'Millions' is sitting in a pile of DVDs I got cheap at Hollywood Video. However, something seemed really appealing to me when I heard Boyle was doing a science fiction adventure-thriller (gotta love the vague IMDB plot categories).
'Sunshine' is an intriguing tale of a team composed of varied personalities united by a mission to re-ignite the sun. Now, it's not that the sun has completely died, mind you, it's just lost some of its power, leaving the Earth in a state of perpetual winter. I was rather impressed with the subtle approach in this setup - it's not some overblown action version of impending disaster a la 'Armageddon.'
The opening of this film takes some time to set a mood and introduce us to various members of the mission's crew. Subtly, we come to understand that each character has a distinct purpose on this ship, even if it isn't exactly spelled out what they do. This ship is lived-in. The feeling that this crew has been in this place for years is palpable.
Eventually, they discover a beacon identifying a ship thought lost - the one that had previously attempted this exact mission. On one hand, the doctor, Searle (Cliff Curtis), believes they should rendezvous with the other ship. The engineer, Mace (Chris Evans) is adamant the mission continue as planned. Captain Kaneda (Hiroyuki Sanada) is convinced the most qualified person to make the decision is the physicist, Capa (Cillian Murphy). He concludes that the second ship may offer a second "last chance" at their mission. It should not be surprising that the subsequent events don't go to plan, but screenwriter Alex Garland is smart about balancing several crises and allowing them to play out in a plausible fashion. Boyle is then able to build tension, resulting in some of the most gripping filmmaking I've witnessed since 'Children of Men.' Unfortunately, 'Sunshine' can't maintain the same brilliance throughout.
While it's easy to be distracted by the window dressing of the character interactions, this film is at heart a thriller. Certain developments of the plot (that I won't reveal) change the film's tone as it races to conclusion, but the underlying sense of reality is almost abandoned, robbing the final scenes of the gravity that made the earlier parts so strikingly successful. I had been captivated by the disagreements between the characters and the way the film implicates the viewer in a high-stakes scenario where no answer is wrong, but each one reveals something about human nature. As with most adventure/thriller plots, the conclusion calls mostly for instinctual actions, but at least the actions aren't so robotic as to rob the characters of their dignity. It's the plot twists to blame here.
Despite the missteps, Boyle's vision is undoubtledly unique, putting a number of new spins on sci-fi staples. It's the sense of character and these new twists that kept me interested despite the film's obvious debts to 'Alien.' Cillian Murphy came to be known more widely through creepy roles in 'Batman Begins' and 'Red Eye' a couple years ago, but it's geat that he can still get a role like Capa, playing a rational voice of reason. Chris Evans is most known for playing Johnny Storm in the 'Fantastic Four' films, but he gets to play different shades on the guy with an overabundance of testosterone. Rose Byrne is given a pivotal scene late in the film that enhances the film's themes immeasurably.
It's hard for me to forgive the ending of 'Sunshine' because the film had me so captivated for the majority of its running time. But there's no question that the concept is ambitious and the film delivers on solid edge-of-your-seat thrills with some intellectual insight on the side. I just wish it had balanced those things a bit better. On the Spout scale of 1 to 5, I am just barely rating it a 4.