Sunshine

Rating: Fills you with a sense of wonder.
Important to Know: Some nasty deaths, space is not kind to the human body. Also, short moments of intense violence and realistic bloodshed.
For the Gamer Chicks: Evidently this science is the real deal, two solid female characters.

*Fun Fact* something connects this movie to Stardust, props to whoever knows what it is.

I love it when movies make sense. It’s really rather rare, if you think about it. Fantasy films, action movies, even cop thrillers often feature character actions and plot twists that make no sense at all, even within the logic of the film world in which they are set. That is one thing that makes Sunshine worth seeing. Everything that happens in this film is the direct result of decisions made by the characters that you can understand, even if you do not agree with them.

It’s also nice to watch a science fiction film wherein the imminent destruction of the Earth is not the fault of we horrible humans. Seriously, we are forever polluting or damaging our planet, creating robots that decide to kill us, angering aliens to the brink of warfare. This time around, our sun is sick. It’s become contaminated by some scientific notion that I don’t quite grasp, but actually exists (at least in theory, which is where so much science lives). It’s burning out millions of years ahead of schedule, and eight of the best-looking astronauts in the world are taking a big scientific bomb all those many miles into space to jumpstart a star.

Again, there’s some sense in the attractive cast: director Danny Boyle (whom I will love forever for “28 Days Later”) decided that since this movie is only set in 2050, the most advance space programs would come from America and China, and cast the movie accordingly. Therefore, Hiroyuki Sanada plays the charismatic Captain Kaneda, who looks as if he just took off his samurai armor, Benedict Wong plays the tragic navigator Trey, and the elegant Michelle Yeoh is biologist Corazon. The American contingent is comprised of nervous communications officer Harvey (Troy Garrity), studly psychologist Searle (Cliff Carter) hot-tempered engineer Mace (Chris Evans) delicate pilot Cassie (Rose Byrne, who I’d swear was cast because she’s so lovely when she cries) and physicist Robert Capa (the unearthly beautiful Cillian Murphy).

These people are given no time on earth for obligatory mushy good-byes or schmaltzy scenes with parents, lovers or children. We meet them after they’ve been 16 months in space. They are all professionals; they all serve a purpose on the ship. But the ship is called “Icarus II” and so if you’ve got a basic grasp of Greek mythology, you already know they’re totally screwed.

But the pathway to that inevitable crash and burn is fantastic and beautiful. The ship is brightly lit and pretty, the special effects are gorgeous, the set design is gorgeous. This is the most beautiful science fiction film I have ever seen. The growing ball of fire they are heading toward is surrounded by empty blackness, emphasizing how alone the crew truly is. That isolation is key, because it means there is no hiding mistakes or responsibility. At an early point in the film, a decision is made. It is the first domino that falls; everything that happens next is a direct result of that first decision. A decision that made logical sense, because the one who made it didn’t realize they were in a sci-fi movie.

The ending is a bit incongruous with the rest of the film, because it’s faster and seems like it comes from a different breed of sci-fi movie (perhaps the kind that turns an inanimate asteroid into a villain that Bruce Willis has to “kill”) but it makes sense as well. There is only one way to set up a certain scene with Murphy, and that way is through this bizarre turn of events, made semi-acceptable by our long-held belief that some people will go completely nuts left out in space for years.

There is some light comedy, particularly a scene between Murphy and Byrnes that made me laugh at the ridiculousness of it, that ease the tension. Though Murphy’s face is on the posters, the movie is made for the ensemble cast, so there are many people to root for, and several do heroic things, without one standout “hero,” which is also a nice touch.

I spent an hour discussing the ins and outs of this movie with the friend who saw it with me. There is a poetry to the events, even the violence, but especially to the science. The seemingly manufactured drama toward the end was merely a stepping-stone to the actual drama of the science of the movie and the sun itself. Unlike other films where if you think too hard, they fall apart, if you think a lot about Sunshine, it just seems better.