Movie : Sunshine (2007)

Directed by Danny Boyle and written by Alex Garland. Boyle directed Trainspotting (1996) , The Beach (2000) and 28 Days later (2002), with Garland writing the last two. Cillian Murphy from 28 Days Later and Michelle Yeoh from Wo hu cang long (2000) aka Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon star.

I hated this movie. Blurry images and blurry storyline do not mean excitement. A tilted camera doesn't make a scene dramatic. Extreme close ups don't create intensity. When I heard the movie's description “50 years into the future, the Sun begins to die, and Earth is dying as a result. A team of astronauts are sent to revive the Sun - but the mission fails. Seven years later, a new team are sent to finish the mission as they are Earth's last hope. “ I was excited to see it, I still would like to. Maybe someone will do that movie.

I like Trainspotting and 28 Days Later, but I think this movie was out of Boyle's range. Too much emphasis on f/x and not enough on story. I think the focus was on what you didn't see and what you were meant to interpret. The positive reviews of this movie I've read, are glowing in their love, they say how deep and thoughtful it is. No it's not. I think those people who find deep meaning in this movie are imposing their own thoughts upon it. Most deeply emotional and spiritually moving reviews are about how the movie makes them feel and what they thought it meant. That's right, what you thought it meant. Maybe they're right, that's what it was suppose to mean, but the director is supposed to convey that to the audience. It's not an impressionist art form. And it's not that I didn't get it. There wasn't anything there to get. I didn't get The Fountain (2006). Someone explained it to me, I still didn't like it.

On to the f/x. Seriously. If you can't see what's happening, why show it. All the blurry images and soft focus and glow were just irritating, creative maybe, but irritating.

Only because I like Danny Boyle's other work, I'll give it a 1 ½ stars out of 5.

***Spoilers***

I don't know why people think the captain finding god in the sun is an amazing event. He's nuts, it's not that big of a stretch. He's a burnt, crispy bit of gristle and he's gone crazy. And how did he get to the other ship? And why does he have super-human strength. Why have such an influential character pop into the movie at the end, blurrily mind you, and wreak havoc on the others.

The Internet Movie Database