SPF 50000 Please

Imagine a world where the sun is dying. Imagine that technology has improved to the point where eight fearless people could voyage to the sun to revive it and save humanity. Imagine that Danny Boyle has singlehandedly reinvigorated yet another film genre and given the world the best recent science fiction film. Finally, imagine that Sunshine takes a simple plot and mostly no-name actors; and creates a truly moving film. Well, imagine no longer.I am a big fan of Danny Boyle because his films push the limits of the genre he works in. Whether that is an updated zombie in 28 Days Later or drug trips in Trainspotting. His unique sense of timing and finesse creates films that are paced to perfection. Sunshine is no different. It takes a basic science fiction concept and amplifies it while still keeping the viewer involved from beginning to end.

Sunshine begins with eight astronauts traveling to the sun to drop of their payload so that the sun can be rebooted. If they fail, the Earth will be plunged into a frozen wasteland where no living thing would survive. This is however, not the first attempt. We come to discover that a previous attempt was made that supposedly failed. Obviously, things go wrong so that we have some tension. (I guess it would be safe to assume that if things did not go wrong the film would only last 20 minutes and be aired exclusively on the Disney channel.) One point of tension is the beeping of the first Icarus, still sending an SOS. A decision is made to rendezvous with the ship and try to use its payload to make sure their mission succeeds. Then the ships oxygen is lost when a fire ravishes their oxygen creation plant, consequently their mission is placed in jeopardy. Even though things keep going wrong and we are introduced to the first Icarus crew (actually not so much introduced and we find out about why they failed), the film keeps pace by focusing on the psychology of such a mission.

Sunshine really shines (sorry had to do it) when we look at the acting. When dealing with such a petri dish of humanity and human reaction, it is important to have actors and characters that can draw a viewer in. I was surprised to find that many of the actors were familiar to me, and that I have made comments before on each of their individual performances in other films. Captain Kaneda (Hiroyuki Sanada) was an amazing stoic figure, which reminded me of his turn as the paranormal father in Ringu. Cassie (Rose Byrne) was a well thought out addition that never breaks out until later in the film, which reminded me that she had appeared in Marie Antoinette. Corazon (Michelle Yeoh) brought a tenderness to her role, although she does serve as a great example of how tenderness can be tested when faced with the death of humanity. Oh and by the way, she was in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Dr. Searle (Cliff Curtis) was an interesting authority figure that become wrapped up in the psychology of such a mission, and he was Pablo Escobar in Blow. My two favorite characters were Mace (Chris Evans) and Robert Capa (Cillian Murphy). They were truly the yin and yang of the film. They played off the psychology of two men who truly believe they know what is right when there really is no right answer. And one was Johnny Storm and the other was the Scarecrow, what more needs to be said.

What really pushed Sunshine beyond just another science fiction film is Boyle’s lack of reliance on special effects to make the film good. I remember watching Event Horizon and thinking how awesome some of the effects were, but that the story was lacking. Why not spend more money on the writing? Boyle fully believes in using special effects to compliment rather than take over a film. There were the moments of wow, but it was within the context of the story. The wow moments served as a way to enhance the characters or catch the viewers attention to draw them back into the film. I think it’s great that Sunshine does not rely on the special effects to make the film watchable.

Sunshine serves notice to the film community (and George Lucas) that special effects do not have to be the focus of science fiction. Boyle proves that character development and good pacing are all that’s needed to create a phenomenal piece of work. I truly enjoyed watching Sunshine and look forward to the next Danny Boyle project. It’s what? A film about an illiterate street kid from Mumbai who wins the jackpot on the Indian version of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” Uh, well I hope it reinvigorates the what the hell is this genre.