Sunshine (2007)
“We should split up.” – Mace.
“I’m not sure that’s such a good idea...” – Harvey.
“You’re probably right. We might get picked off one at a time by aliens.” – Mace.
Sunshine (2007)
Directed by: Danny Boyle
Written by: Alex Garland
Starring: Cillian Murphy, Rose Byre, Chris Evans, Michelle Yeoh, Benedict Wong, Cliff Curtis, Hiroyuki Sanada, Mark Strong
One of the more underrated space movies of the last twenty years, Sunshine is the third collaboration between director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland (the previous two being The Beach and 28 Days Later). The two spent over a year writing the script, inspired by the scientific concept of the ‘heat death of the universe’ (in simple terms, when the sun eventually ‘burns out’ and isn’t able to sustain life in our universe anymore). 35 drafts later, they assembled what is one of my favourite ensemble casts of all time and began production on this unique psychological sci-fi thriller.
Set in the year 2057, Sunshine follows the crew of the Icarus II, a spaceship that has been tasked with jump-starting the dying sun and then returning to Earth. The crew includes captain Kaneda (Sanada), pilot Cassie (Byrne), navigator Trey (Wong), physicist Capa (Murphy), engineer Mace (Evans), botanist Corazon (Yeoh), psychiatrist Searle (Curtis), and communications officer Harvey (Garity). In order to save Earth from a permanent thermal winter, they need to deploy a ‘nuclear stellar bomb’ on the Suns surface. However, when they slingshot around Mercury their ship picks up a distress signal from the Icarus I, the first ship to attempt the mission, which disappeared seven years earlier. Going to investigate, the plan begins to unravel, and the crew of the Icarus II soon find themselves having to fight for survival.
Whenever you watch a space movie, it’s hard to watch it in isolation – you have to consider it within the canon. Every aspect is subconsciously put under the microscope and compared to the plethora of other great space movies: Interstellar, Gravity, Alien, First Man, Apollo 13, Moon, The Martian, Ad Astra, 2001: A Space Odyssey. There are sooo many good space movies, it’s just brutally difficult to stand out. Therefore the fact that Sunshine is as good as a number of these films, on a comparatively miniscule $40 million budget, is absolutely wild. It ticks all of the right boxes within the genre – cast, music, plot, exploration of scientific concepts, special effects - while also being distinctly unique. Therefore I had to double check when I saw that this movie was a box office disappointment, failing to rake in its $40 million budget in ticket stubs. This is staggering. Armageddon – an objectively worse space film - pulled in a massive $550 million at the box office.
Easily the best thing about Sunshine is the cast. A ‘salary cap’ cast if I’ve seen one, there is absolutely zero chance that Boyle would be able to make this movie for $40 million dollars if he remade the movie today. Now certified A-graders Cillian Murphy, Rose Byrne and Chris Evans would likely command that figure by themselves. Therefore Boyle catches these three on the way up, while also casting established actors Yeoh, Curtis, Sanada, Wong and Strong. Everyone is incredible, with Murphy and Evans at their absolute best, and it helps that there is no real ‘main’ character. Speaking about this, Boyle said he chose to have an ensemble cast to encourage a more democratic process when complications arise, similar to the crew in Alien. He also decided that the cast should be international in order to reflect the mission’s purpose “on behalf of all mankind”. Another fun wrinkle – Boyle had the cast undergo method acting to prepare for their roles. They were made to live together, and study their individual specialties within the film. This was to help convey the sense of ‘family’ that a crew that had lived with each other for sixteen months would have. Method acting or not, it worked, as the chemistry and energy between the characters is natural and believable throughout.
The plot itself is genuinely exciting (at least until the last twenty minutes – we’ll get to that later), with a lot of problems arising for the crew in quick succession. The tension of these scenes – accentuated by the energetic electro score by British group Underworld – is assisted by snappy dialogue between the crew members, as they rely on their training and intuition to solve complex problems. Simply put, it feels very ‘spacey’, with Boyle and the actors convincing me that this is exactly how astronauts would act. Garland also raises some interesting philosophical debates, with the crew regularly having to weigh the importance of their own lives against the fate of the entire world. Human nature, survival instinct, and the battle of science versus religion are all explored. I have no issues with the special effects, and the visuals are all impressive, which again is a welcome surprise for a movie with a relatively small budget.
Now for the only blemish on the movie – the final twenty minutes. This is such a shame, because the plot was genuinely thrilling and thought provoking up to this point. I won’t give away the plot, but something exciting happens, and then the movie turns from an intelligent thriller into a slasher movie. Characters start doing all sorts of stupid things, the imagery gets very shaky cam, and it all gets a bit confusing. This left a bad taste in my mouth, and cost the movie a few points.
In summary, apart from the disappointing final stanza Sunshine is an incredibly well produced film. The cast is a melting pot of international talent, the story is original, and the visuals and score provide a tense ride through space for the audience. If you enjoy space movies make sure to check this out, but forgive Danny Boyle for the strange ending.
Rating: 7/10
Scientific inaccuracy:
I don’t really care (for once), but the science community had an absolute field day picking apart the scientific inaccuracies in this one. New Scientist magazine did a periodical pointing out some of the bigger mistakes, including:
The nuclear stellar bomb would be ‘woefully inadequate’ to reignite the dying sun. Billions of these devices would apparently be required.
There’s no source for artificial gravity on the Icarus II. Everyone should be floating everywhere.
Whenever the astronauts leave the spaceship they are portrayed as traveling in slow motion. Slow motion during weightlessness isn’t accurate.