Don't Look Directly At It
Sunshine is Not What it Seems
What is science fiction? It seems like a pretty simple question to answer, but with so many different types of stories out there, defining science fiction is often the subject of immense debate. While most people would identify Star Wars as a science fiction movie, noted science fiction author James Gunn better described it as a fairy tale (a dark lord, a princess to be rescued, a young farmboy who becomes a knight). For many, a story must stick to the science to be considered science fiction. In his new film, Sunshine, director Danny Boyle wanted to make a hard science film, but it misses the mark.
Written by: Alex Garland
Starring: Cliff Curtis, Cillian Murphy, Michelle Yeoh, Hiroyuki Sanada, Rose Byrne, Benedict Wong, and Chris Evans
Rated
(for
violent content and language)Running time: 107 min.
FilmGuru's Rating : 3 out of 10.
The premise of Sunshine is pretty simple. At some point in the future, our sun has started to die out. Humanity, utilizing that "can do" spirit, has decided to jump-start the sun by dropping into it a gigantic bomb the size of Manhattan. The problem is it's all theoretical. The bomb may not work at all. More importantly, the crew of the Icarus II has to get pretty close to the surface of the sun to launch the device.
The film is claustrophobic, as crew members bicker and fight over the extended isolation. The small crew is defined by their roles aboard the ship, including an engineer (played by Chris Evans), a biologist (played by Michelle Yeoh), and a physicist named Capa, played by Murphy. The tension in the film comes from a distress call from the first Icarus, lost in space for seven years. The crew is divided on how to proceed, and it is ultimately up to Capa to make the decision.
As science fiction films go, Sunshine sets itself apart by going for a "hard" science look and feel. There are no warp drives, teleporters, or laser guns here. Sunshine is touted as a cerebral science fiction film, one that harkens back thirty years or so to films like 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Andromeda Strain, or Silent Running. Yet, it is very clear that for all its art direction and tone that Sunshine is not a hard science film either.
Although it has a dark, industrial look to it, none of the characters bother to explain the science. The audience doesn't understand why the shields allow the Icarus II to get close to the sun. Only the briefest explanation (and a poor one at that) is given for the theoretical process for reigniting the sun. They also don't mention what other measures are being used back on Earth to keep people alive. I, for one, kept thinking "Hurray for global warming!"
Science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke once wrote that any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. That's what director Danny Boyle has given us, magic. Those who go to see Sunshine expecting the return of realism in a space epic will be sorely disappointed.
In a recent article in Wired, Boyle decries the death of "hard-core" science fiction, blaming Star Wars for ushering in the age of science fiction fantasy. Well, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that Sunshine too breaks down under close scrutiny. Where Star Wars may have led to science fiction fantasy, Boyle adopts the science fiction horror subgenre. About two-thirds of the way through, it becomes little more than a horror movie set in space, derivative of films like Event Horizon and Alien.
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