Morgan BellREVIEW: Sunshine
June 11th 2008 16:45
Spectacular sci-fi thriller, visually stunning masterpiece . . .
Directed: Danny Boyle (28 Days Later, The Beach, Trainspotting, A Life Less Ordinary, Shallow Grave)
Written: Alex Garland (28 Days Later, The Beach)
Starring: Cillian Murphy (Batman Begins, Girl With A Pearl Earring, 28 Days Later), Rose Byrne (Troy, Two Hands, TVs Damages), Michelle Yeoh (Memoirs Of A Geisha, Tomorrow Never Dies), Cliff Curtis (Runaway Jury, Blow, The Piano, Once Were Warriors, Whale Rider), Chris Evans (Not Another Teen Movie, Street Kings)
Sunshine is set in the near future imagining the Sun is dying and a team of scientists are forced to venture into space to re-ignite it so the Earth will not perish in a killer winter. The science is pretty loose and it is not dwelled on but the crew aboard spaceship Icarus are faced with a series of moral dilemmas which are explored brilliantly by the cast. This film is a homage to the space classics Alien and 2001: Space Odessy which also tackles the big issues of what it is to be human, where humanity goes wrong, the role of science, the existance of god, and (similarly to The Beach) if the ends can ever justify the means. The visual effects are absolutely stunning and rich vibrant colour tints every frame in a unique and captivating way. I am a huge fan of Irish actor Cillian Murphy and he pulls off the role of the intellectual physicist effortlessly in Sunshine. Danny Boyle has employed an international cast and created yet another modern masterpiece . . . if you want to sit in awe of something astoundingly beautiful then this film is a must-see!
SUNSHINE FILM TRAILER
SEPARATED AT BIRTH?
Random celebrity look-alikes Cillian Murphy and Tom Welling (USA TVs Smallville) could be identical twins!
Directed: Danny Boyle (28 Days Later, The Beach, Trainspotting, A Life Less Ordinary, Shallow Grave)
Written: Alex Garland (28 Days Later, The Beach)
Starring: Cillian Murphy (Batman Begins, Girl With A Pearl Earring, 28 Days Later), Rose Byrne (Troy, Two Hands, TVs Damages), Michelle Yeoh (Memoirs Of A Geisha, Tomorrow Never Dies), Cliff Curtis (Runaway Jury, Blow, The Piano, Once Were Warriors, Whale Rider), Chris Evans (Not Another Teen Movie, Street Kings)
Sunshine is set in the near future imagining the Sun is dying and a team of scientists are forced to venture into space to re-ignite it so the Earth will not perish in a killer winter. The science is pretty loose and it is not dwelled on but the crew aboard spaceship Icarus are faced with a series of moral dilemmas which are explored brilliantly by the cast. This film is a homage to the space classics Alien and 2001: Space Odessy which also tackles the big issues of what it is to be human, where humanity goes wrong, the role of science, the existance of god, and (similarly to The Beach) if the ends can ever justify the means. The visual effects are absolutely stunning and rich vibrant colour tints every frame in a unique and captivating way. I am a huge fan of Irish actor Cillian Murphy and he pulls off the role of the intellectual physicist effortlessly in Sunshine. Danny Boyle has employed an international cast and created yet another modern masterpiece . . . if you want to sit in awe of something astoundingly beautiful then this film is a must-see!
SUNSHINE FILM TRAILER
SEPARATED AT BIRTH?
Random celebrity look-alikes Cillian Murphy and Tom Welling (USA TVs Smallville) could be identical twins!
Cillian Murphy
Tom Welling
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Comment by Louie
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Comment by David O'Connell
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Comment by Morgan Bell
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yes Alex Garland and Danny Boyle seem to be quite the effective creative team, i love stories that ask the big questions!
Cillian Murphy has slightly creepy eyes as they are so colourless . . . he was an excellent bad guy in Batman Begins as Scarecrow . . . i think hes incredibly beautiful, very feminine features!
hi David,
i thought the last half hour was going off on a bit of a "slasher" tangent (yes Event Horizen, so true! haha) but ended really cleverly making the "horror" elements seem like a metaphor for how we are destroying the earth . . . if the sun is god (or truth) and the burnt man is a prophet (or religion), the oxygen garden represents how we destroy our environment, Michelle Yeoh embodied "science" . . . ive obviously been thinking about it alot! lol
thanks for the comments
Comment by Lilla
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Great review.
My daughter just bought this one home. She said (after the first fifteen minutes) it was pretty dystopic - then disssapeared back into her room to finish watching it?
I fgure that I will have to give it a look in because i like sci-fi and becuase this is a new generation of sci-fi... perhaps similar in vein to The Core... will have to wait and see.
First I have to watch enchanted with my youngest and then I'll be back to let you know what I thought of this one.
Lilla ...
Comment by Morgan Bell
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dystopic, yes thats a great description!
i would highly recommend having a peek, Cillian Murphy is a beauty and the whole film is just so colourful!
id love to know what you think after you see it . . .
Comment by Cheryl J
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I must say Cillian Murphy creeps me out big time. The only time I've liked him was in 28 Days Later when he used his own accent.
I really liked your review but I have to say I sit on the other side of the fence with this one. I just didn't like it and I hated the ending.
Comment by Morgan Bell
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always nice to hear from someone on the other side of the fence!
and i openly admit i have strange taste in movies, i go totally gaga for some things and then am impossible to please in other areas . . . sometimes theres no rhyme or reason . . . however i will endeavor to explain this one:
with sci-fi i think if you dont have solid technical detail then you are better off just not including any, so i was satisfied with Sunshine that it didnt try to get bigger than its boots, they are delivering a generic "payload" and dont go into specifics about the "how" or "why" of the mechanics of the problem or the solution . . . essentially it is just a giant hypothesis we have to take for granted so we have a vehicle for the philosophical questions
and if you cant tell im more than a little bit smitten with Cillian Murphy, i thought he was the stand-out actor in both Batman Begins and Girl With A Pearl Earring . . . he played this role as determined and clinical and brought an element of honour to it
i know i wont convince you but i do always appreciate the discussion!
Comment by Jason King
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Comment by Cheryl J
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As I said, it had amazing potential, I just don't think it reached it. Some of the scenes were quite breathtaking though. I've only just seen 28 Days Later in the last week and I like that one better.
I love Sci Fi and sometimes it's the schlockiness that I love so much and sometimes it irritates me. Like you, there may be no rhyme or reason to it.
Must run, I'm off to chilly Canberra for a long weekend. Family calls...and I have to freeze my arse off
Comment by Morgan Bell
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thankyou!
sometimes the pretty movies are the easiest to love!
hi Cheryl,
schlockiness! what a fantastic word!
i hope you have a lovely schlocky time in canberra . . . dont tell me about cold, im in the small triangular state of the eternal winter!
Comment by JohnDoe
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Comment by Morgan Bell
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wow i thought i was the only one who liked it!
well me and Jason, but he likes everything haha
but this is high praise indeed for someone with as much movie knowledge as you!
thanks for the comment, "awe" is the perfect word!