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.

One of the first things that made this film dull was the story-line itself. I was excited to see the Silver Surfer, but I expected that the plot would either be straight form the comic or original. It was neither. As you moved through the story, parts of comics were thrown in with some original content. At one point you have Johnny Storm (Chris Evans) being given the ability to absorb and switch powers, which leads to the ultimate absorption of all of the FF’s powers. Even though it is interesting, I could not help but be reminded of the Super Skrull. In this instance it was as if the writers read the Super Skrull story-line and said, “Hey that’s neat let’s put it in but we need to keep the Super Skrull out of the plot.” With a weak story you really cannot expect great acting.

My expectations were fulfilled. The acting is ridiculous at times. The Silver Surfer looks great, but so did the Terminator in T2. I was really bothered by the look of the Surfer and the voice of Laurence Fishburne. I kept having Matrix flashbacks and was fully expecting the Surfer to say, “Welcome to the desert of the real.” Even though I like Jessica Alba, she looked freaky at times. The blonde hair and deep blue eyes are just not Alba to me. The best acting was turned in by Julian McMahon as Victor Von Doom. It was surprising considering how lame he was in the first film. I did get excited when they had the Doom reboot moments. I finally thought we were getting the bad-ass Doom we deserved. It was slightly short lived but he did stay true to the evil Doom comic fans have come to love.

Speaking of the actors, why do we see the faces of Victor Von Doom (Julian McMahon) and The Thing (Michael Chiklis)? I have no need to see The Thing as anything but The Thing. Doom should have the mask on all the time except perhaps when he needs to ogle Alba better. I really wonder if both of these actors have a clause in their contracts to allow them face time out of character within the film. I can understand that need, but some of the best characters should stand as characters, not as actors playing a character.

On to Galactus. I did hear rumors about the let down of Galactus, but I thought I would give them a chance since seeing the Galactus from the comics may have been just as bad. At first, I was impressed with the atmospheric space effects allowing for the fingers of Galactus to appear around the world. I began thinking that perhaps everyone was wrong. That was until they raided Twister’s special effects and gave us a tornado rather than an all-powerful being of planet destruction. I was half expecting Johnny Storm to throw out a “Look cows!” line. Not too mention that the hour and a half build-up led to a five minute moment of, “Oh, why didn’t I think of that” by the Surfer to end the film.

Beyond much of the negative criticism, I do have to say that the humor was spot on and corny. I always thought the FF comics were great for one-liners and kiddie fights between Johhny Stom and The Thing. This film did have me laughing at their antics. So, kudos for the corny humor that will never carry a movie by itself.

Anyways, my review may have been better if this would have been a renter. The first film was better than I was led to believe, but after paying way too much; the second was not worth it. I would rather pay a few dollars and just watch Jessica Alba, which I do every time I watch Dark Angel. She may not be the best actress. but there are always moments I cherish in any film with her in it. Just so everyone knows what I am talking about, here is Jessica Alba in glasses. I think I was giddy. I was surprised that the filmmakers gave her this same scene in both films. I guess they wanted everyone to believe she was not just hot but also smart. Um, sure. Mind you, if Jessica Alba is reading this I do think you are smart…and hot.

To wrap this up, rent it and do not expect too much. The Silver Surfer is a good addition and so is a scene with Alba in Japanese garb, but give me Doom. Give me the corny jokes and cheesy lines, but do not give me lame plots and really bad-ass clouds.

Let us first start with a movie I did want to see but just couldn’t watch. You all know those movies, you just keep waiting and waiting until finally it gets in the DVD player. Oldboy is one film where the description is actually more interesting that the film. Your drunk on the street and get kidnapped. You are then thrown into some type of prison for 15 years. You are then released and have five days to figure why. It just sounds cool. The film is interesting, until you start finding out why he was imprisoned, then it drags a bit. The concept really carries the film, while the very slow dramatic ending and explanation could have been shortened to create a very solid hour and a half film rather than a two hour yawner towards the end. You know, this is just one of those films that I wanted to watch, I enjoyed it, but wasn’t really blown away by. Perhaps the self-induced wait made my expectations too high. However, the film was good enough to get me interested in Chan-wook Park’s newer film Sympathy for Lady Vengeance.

Now on to the I thought it would suck but since my expectations were so low I enjoyed it film, The Fantastic Four. Beyond the fact that this was a comic book film, I really never had any intention of watching it. But some of my students told me that Jessica Alba was only wearing her bra and panties in one scene. I therefore decided that I should investigate this claim. The film was entertaining, especially the acting of Johnny Storm (Chris Evans). It was dead on with the comic. Every other actor was just okay in their roles, no one else blew me out of the water. I did see the Jessica Alba scene, but I was more turned on by her wearing her I am a serious and smart chick because I wear glasses scene. Oh Jessica, I am sad to say that your effect on me is waning but every time I feel that it is totally gone, you reinvent yourself. Okay so what I just said was – she is hot. The special effects were kinda crappy, especially Doom’s. The storyline was there, but as with many first comic book movies it really lacked anything exciting. It was fun to watch and Jessica Alba is hot (here’s to her in the next Sin City).

Now for the last one – Bride and Prejudice. So here we go with a brief explanation, uh… It is a Bollywood film about love with really hot chicks, foreigners that don’t get the culture, and Sayid (Naveen Andrews from Lost) singing and dancing. That’s right Sayid dancing! This film is notable because it stars Aishwarya Rai’s debut in a film outside of India. I watched this after my Alba experience, but Rai is just intoxicating. The film is just fun, what more can I say. The plot is formulaic and dull, most of the acting is just okay, and there is no real innovation. Now ignore all of that and go watch the film. I found myself giggling like a little girl and being sucked into the whole romance. Yes he gets the girl and everyone comes together in ethnic nirvana, but who cares. I really enjoyed just the subtle nature of the entire film, a very tongue-in-cheek look at Bollywood.

So there you go, three power packed reviews all wrapped in one extra tight package (think Alba). I really have no clue what film I’ll watch next, however the Netflix roulette seems to provide for some interesting viewing.