How I missed this movie when it was in theaters, I don’t know — maybe 2007 was a busy year, or maybe I didn’t catch any of the publicity for Sunshine, but boy am I glad that I finally saw it. This movie was great!
Break Out Your Nerd Helmet, It’s a Sci-Fi
Well, that’s what I told Ginny before we started watching the film: get ready to watch a movie about astronauts plotting a course for the sun on the back of a massive nuclear warhead. Set the bar low to avoid disappointment, I was thinking. I shouldn’t have worried.
True, this movie has some elements that are strongly reminiscent of Event Horizon, Armageddon (but only in the sense that they are a bunch of astronauts sent into space to save the earth), and Space Odyssey 2001, but it also does a wonderful job of rising above the genre. In the end, this is a movie about the characters and how they solve problems, overcome adversity, and work together to accomplish something for the greater good of mankind.
Casting
The choice of actors was so well done that I almost don’t know who to comment on first. Michelle Yeoh put in an amazing performance as Corazon, the ship’s botanist, proving her versatility (you might recognize her from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), and Cillian Murphy (the Scarecrow in Batman Begins) is incredible as Capa, the creator of the sun-bomb they are delivering.
Mace (Chris Evans, aka Johnny Storm from The Fantastic Four) is a great burly counter to Capa’s frailty, and the tension between them as things unravel adds a lot to the story. The ship’s psychiatrist, Searle (Cliff Curtis) adds a lot of perspective to the story with his obsession with sunlight, and captain Kaneda (Hiroyuki Sanada) acts as the resolute backbone holding everyone together. There’s definitely a lot going on in this movie, and it starts in the first minute.
Light Up Your Life
Sunshine has a lot to offer: a great story, cast, and amazing visuals complement terrific ambiance and well-paced character development. You won’t be disappointed by this movie, even if you’re not a science fiction lover, and if you are a sci-fi geek, your eyes will be glued to the screen for every second of this film.
