Sunshine (2007)
Sunshine (2007) 7/10
An interesting and enjoyable tale that had so much potential but some dubious scriptwriting in the second half turns it from possibly great to just merely good. The film starts well with a mission to reignite a dying sun. A previous expedition, Icarus had ended in failure and now our protagonists are astronauts aboard Icarus II, on their way to deliver the ‘payload’, a nuclear bomb to craft a new star out of a dying one. The concept itself is sound, with good graphics and an eclectic bunch of characters. Cillian Murphy distinguishes himself here and adds another worthy film to his resume, and even Michelle Yeoh, who has been in several absolutely terrible films in the past few years, acquits herself well. Playing out like Children of Men meets Alien, the film is a solid tale for the 2/3 or so of its running time until it decides to add slasher flick into the plot, in a predictable and utterly unnecessary deus ex machina. Still, the film boasts of one of the most emotional death scenes, some truly stunning visuals and a plot that had much potential. Too bad for the detour into slasher flick land.
