S U N S H I N E

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Summary:
The sun is dying, and in order to save humanity, a crew heads out to the sun to detonate a bomb that will save the sun from it's matter-defying infection. This is the second attempt, and all earth's resources have been ravaged to complete the mission a previous crew did not.

Review:
The first thing I'll say is that Sunshine is one of the most beautiful looking movies of 2007. There is a lot of sunshine, beaming in many kinds of imaginative scenarios. Most of which I could not have conceived of. Gorgeous effects work done here.
I was following along with their logic in deciding to salvage the second bomb on the first failed crew member's ship that was lingering close to the sun. The scientific factors were above my head, so I can't justify if their calculations of the physics of the sun's gravitational pull on the ship would destroy any chance of the mission being accomplished. I was grasping it enough to believe that their dilemma of continuing the mission with ONE bomb versus the gamble of collecting the second was a tough decision with positive and negative reasoning from both sides of the fence. Worked for me!
Of course shit starts hitting the fan, because if it didn't I doubt we'd have a movie. I understood the dissension that was built between crew members after the choice had been made. Everyone wants to do the right thing, and the first half hour sets a strong basis for each persons' position on the ship in terms of their place in command, and their scientific specialty. Another big handful of Kudos goes to the fleshing out of the characters.
When they finally arrive at the ship of the first crew's failure from 7 years past, the haunting subliminal flashes of each crew member gave me the impression that even though the crew members were gone, the spirit of their presence is still imprinted within the ship. Very subtle for the most part, but it also added an element of spiritual and psychological haunting.

It's too bad that the third act turns into not just a sci-fi feature, but tries to incorporate a Man vs. Science theme which didn't balance out as cohesively as intended. I'll have to be a little faint on my complaint because I don't give spoilers in my reviews. Eventually, Sunshine turns into a stalker/killer mystery for a short while, before turning into a somewhat silly psycho-thriller that fell flat in the final leg. What helped keep me bonded throughout was the amazing use of visuals, and the stellar cast. Everyone was great in this movie. Cillian Murphy was especially touching in a few moments, and I felt sorry for the position he had to be put in numerous times. Chris Evans did better in this than what I've seen him do in anything previous. I'm not saying he's a bad actor, but between Cellular and Fantastic Four flicks, he didn't need to do much flexing of the dramatic muscles. He came through in spades for Sunshine. Bravo, Young Grasshopper.

I was getting my mind blown and my eyes lovingly stroked by Sunshine for most of its run time. I'm pretty sad that the last half hour kind of ruined the amazing everything beforehand. Instead of making this one of my favorite movies of the year, it turned into a movie that I highly recommend. For the visuals, the solid first half, and an overall decent movie in most areas.

GRADE: B

Reviewed: 1/21/08