Good day, Sunshine

From AICN, "Just got back from an exclusive preview of Danny Boyle's 'Sunshine'. Special because it took place in his home city (Manchester) in the locally famous 'Cornerhouse' arts cinema, of which he is patron. There was a Q&A afterwards with Benedict Wong (Trey), also a Mancunian, and Dr.Hannibal Lecter. Er..... Colonel Stryker........er, no. Dr.Brian Cox. Actually and bizarrely, Dr.Cox looks 17 and is a ringer (sort of, but it was trumpeted) for Cillian Murphy! This proves that physicists can be good looking (but didn't Star Trek do that a long time ago?). We were also treated to a video intro by Boyle himself (explaining that his son was 'Home Alone' and turning into MacCauly Culkin so he had to babysit). Boyle reappeared (on vid) at the end in a short filmed Q&A also.

So... the movie. A telling moment from Dr.Cox in the aftershow discussion related how Danny always tries to "do things differently" in his movies. Specifically in this case how he wanted to alter the generic pacing of sci-fi which typically starts slow and measured but gains momentum inexorably. He apparently realised (via the spectre of Kubrick over his shoulder...hmmm) that this couldn't be done and that this particular 'rule' of the genre could not be successfully bent. Thus, the movie's pacing does indeed echo 'Alien', for example (one of a number of films screened for the cast during their 'boot camp', prior to filming.

In fact there are similarities to a number of genre movies in this one, though. Especially 'Event Horizon', although I was reminded a lot of the space jeopardy scene in de Palma's 'Mission to Mars'. Dr.Cox was at pains to point out that 'Sunshine', although necessarily straying from total credibility, was nonetheless completely "human". In other words.....no monsters/aliens/robots etc. I intend this to be spoiler-free but suffice to say that it's not entirely clear that this is the case.

On the plus side. Although a pretty small screen, the sound mix and quality was amazing. It will lose a lot on your average TV screen. Apparently the effects house they used were pretty cheap but "made the money go a long way". I would agree wholeheartedly. The movie is a treat to look at and you really get a sense of the power and heat of the sun. Boyle helps this by keeping the palette for the interiors to blues/greens and keeping the warms colours for exteriors.

The acting was above par, with some given more to do than others. A good mix, though. There was genuine suspense and creative camerawork. I particularly liked some subliminal shots of faces when a boarding party enters the derelict first ship, although this wasn't played out as effectively as it could have been.

The big problem for me (and your previous reviewer) was the appearance of the 'fifth crewmember'. This is not giving anything away, but it's far from clear who this character is (for a good while, anyway) and indeed 'what' he is. Crucially his motivation is muddled or obscured by the sound/action. This is important as it is apparently the crux of the piece and was what Alex Garland started with in his script, working backwards thereafter. The aftershow discussion straightened this out and informed us that this character and his actions constituted the "philosophical" dilemma that the movie was trying to portray. Fair enough, but the execution left a bit to be desired. A shame as what preceded this was of such high quality.

The music score (by John Murphy and Underworld) was ok and effective in parts but I would have preferred a more 'old school' approach such as a classic Goldsmith would have offered.

All in all a noble effort and a hit rather than a miss, but this is such well-worn territory that it would take something really really special to make the kind of mark that the hard work and good intentions of the cast and crew deserved.

Boyle told us that his next film would be 'Slum Dog Millionaire', scripted by 'The Full Monty's Simon Beaufoy, which concerns a guy who goes on an Indian version of 'Who Wants to be a Millionaire' purely because he knows an estranged girlfriend watches it. Or something.