***This comment DOES contain spoilers; my word, yes*** Ah, the burdens of family at Christmas! I gave my little bruv a copy of 'Blazing Saddles' (qv), and he returned the favour with a copy of 'Sunshine', backed up with the most heartfelt plea I have ever witnessed from him: 'give it a chance and see what you think.' Of course, that kind of heart-tugging will always make me narrow my eyes in suspicion but, eight hours later, my lids have finally shut from despair, not intense insolation.
I won't carp on about the physics of the movie; I have long accepted the pervasive nature of narrativium (qv) in story-telling, so I won't bother to compare the rules of my universe with those of Alex Garland's. Nor should I fault the professionalism of the cast and crew; I was particularly taken with Benedict Wong's portrayal of despair following Trey's erroneous course correction. Obviously then, what is left to complain about is the plot: why in the name of Nebuchadnezzar's nob-end did Garland and Boyle introduce Captain Pinbacker?
Some space-based movies excel at the ambiguous mentality of the characters; think, for example of Hal 9000's dilemma in '2001: A Space Odyssey' or Chris Kelvin's entire approach in 'Solaris'. The premise of 'Sunshine' and the characters' reaction to it, were already well established in the first fifteen minutes, in which a fading Sun is also deadly up close, and crew members are both logical scientists and stir-crazy kids.
There was also so much believable menace in the threat of oxygen depletion; the exchange with Mace and Cassie during the debate about whether to euthanise Trey to maintain oxygen levels was very promising; there was enough ambiguity in the characters for that alone to be a thrill. When Corazon furtively introduced the subject of oxygen and crew numbers, I was reasonably excited about the prospect of the helionauts turning on each other in a desperate fight to survive (for the good of the mission, naturally...).
Again, Harvey's weaselly arrogance, Mace's logic and Dr Searle's nobility during the escape from the 'Icarus 1' was an excellent starting point for tension; no more ingredients were needed to turn that scene into a frightening examination of human nature.
So why the need to incarnate threat with the 'daemon ex machina' of the bead-jiggling Pinbacker, a hopeless zombie of a McGuffin? I can only presume that it was a result of the 'Peoria' lobby at Fox, although I am deeply disappointed that Garland and Boyle listened to their pleas.
I praised the professionalism of the cast and crew earlier, but I have to condemn everybody for the final ten minutes, as Capa drives the bomb into the Sun. The ending had the same devotion to nasty eye-wrenching post-production tricks that made me walk out of '28 Weeks Later' half an hour after the lights went down. In the case of 'Sunshine' an already moribund story was quickly despatched by a hastily-edited SFX-heavy climax. It was not needed; Capa and Cassie should have been allowed to meet the surface of the Sun in long slow takes, allowing us time to get inside their heads as they sacrificed themselves.
I have a habit of walking out of movies; these days, I count a movie as good if I stay to watch the end: if it wasn't for the fact that I was watching 'Sunshine' on a free DVD in the comfort of my own armchair, I would have raced to the box office for a refund. Why? Life's too short; there are many more stories to follow just by meeting people on the street. That's what 'Sunshine' should have concentrated on all the way through to the end: people. I have to be honest: I hate movies; I love stories.
I won't carp on about the physics of the movie; I have long accepted the pervasive nature of narrativium (qv) in story-telling, so I won't bother to compare the rules of my universe with those of Alex Garland's. Nor should I fault the professionalism of the cast and crew; I was particularly taken with Benedict Wong's portrayal of despair following Trey's erroneous course correction. Obviously then, what is left to complain about is the plot: why in the name of Nebuchadnezzar's nob-end did Garland and Boyle introduce Captain Pinbacker?
Some space-based movies excel at the ambiguous mentality of the characters; think, for example of Hal 9000's dilemma in '2001: A Space Odyssey' or Chris Kelvin's entire approach in 'Solaris'. The premise of 'Sunshine' and the characters' reaction to it, were already well established in the first fifteen minutes, in which a fading Sun is also deadly up close, and crew members are both logical scientists and stir-crazy kids.
There was also so much believable menace in the threat of oxygen depletion; the exchange with Mace and Cassie during the debate about whether to euthanise Trey to maintain oxygen levels was very promising; there was enough ambiguity in the characters for that alone to be a thrill. When Corazon furtively introduced the subject of oxygen and crew numbers, I was reasonably excited about the prospect of the helionauts turning on each other in a desperate fight to survive (for the good of the mission, naturally...).
Again, Harvey's weaselly arrogance, Mace's logic and Dr Searle's nobility during the escape from the 'Icarus 1' was an excellent starting point for tension; no more ingredients were needed to turn that scene into a frightening examination of human nature.
So why the need to incarnate threat with the 'daemon ex machina' of the bead-jiggling Pinbacker, a hopeless zombie of a McGuffin? I can only presume that it was a result of the 'Peoria' lobby at Fox, although I am deeply disappointed that Garland and Boyle listened to their pleas.
I praised the professionalism of the cast and crew earlier, but I have to condemn everybody for the final ten minutes, as Capa drives the bomb into the Sun. The ending had the same devotion to nasty eye-wrenching post-production tricks that made me walk out of '28 Weeks Later' half an hour after the lights went down. In the case of 'Sunshine' an already moribund story was quickly despatched by a hastily-edited SFX-heavy climax. It was not needed; Capa and Cassie should have been allowed to meet the surface of the Sun in long slow takes, allowing us time to get inside their heads as they sacrificed themselves.
I have a habit of walking out of movies; these days, I count a movie as good if I stay to watch the end: if it wasn't for the fact that I was watching 'Sunshine' on a free DVD in the comfort of my own armchair, I would have raced to the box office for a refund. Why? Life's too short; there are many more stories to follow just by meeting people on the street. That's what 'Sunshine' should have concentrated on all the way through to the end: people. I have to be honest: I hate movies; I love stories.