Review of Danny Boyle’s film “Sunshine”

To start; well, I’m in shock. Please, for a moment disregard anything you have heard about this film that is negative. I read on Rotten Tomatoes that the last half hour of the film negates the beauty of the 3/4ths of the movie. This is not the case. But before I go on, I must warn those who have not see the film yet that I will be revealing spoilers. If you haven’t seen it yet, do not worry, I give it a positive review.

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

On the off chance that you don’t have a clue what this movie is about, here are the facts: “The Sun is dying,” that is one of the many catch-phrases of the film. It is currently the year 2057. In 2050 a special space mission was launched, called the Icarus. Manned by a crew of 8, it sets off with a dark matter bomb the size of Manhattan to reignite the Sun. However, the mission is lost. So now a new crew sets upon the same mission aboard the Icarus II. (Can anyone say “The Core”?)

The film starts when the Icarus II has just lost radio contact with Earth, due to solar winds. Soon afterwards they pick up the distress call of the Icarus I. The bomb tech, Capa (played by Cillian Murphy, probably best remembered for playing the villain Scarecrow in Batman Begins) decides that two bombs are better than one and the crew redirects their course.

Sadly, the huge shield on the front of the ship is not properly realigned with the Sun, and chaos ensues, killing the captain of the Icarus II, and causing the greenhouse on the ship (which produces all the ship oxygen) to catch fire. The crewmember responsible for the miscalculation becomes extremely depressed and suicidal. The rest manage to reach the Icarus I, but the ship is not functional and the crew appears to all be dead.

Sorry, you can’t use this bomb.

Just as the remaining crew members start getting mad for redirecting the mission, and losing the captain for a bomb that doesn’t work, the airlock brakes leaving four of the remaining crew stranded on the Icarus I, and causing the Icarus II to start venting gas into space. (Can anyone say “Apollo 13”?) Despite that setback, they realize that the can launch themselves from one ship’s airlock to the other by releasing the pressure suddenly from the Icarus I. Problems? Yes, there is only one spacesuit, and four men, and one of them is going to have to stay behind to perform the launch. Two of them wrap themselves in insulation and hold on the man in the space suit. Two make it to back to the ship. One freezes in space, the other who says behind, dies from the rays of the Sun on the Icarus I observation deck.

5 left. Well…. 4, it is now found the suicidal crewmember did just that. Then the computer tells Capa that there are not only 4 crewmen aboard…… there are 5. One last member of the Icarus I crew was alive, and he got aboard the Icarus II, and he doesn’t want them to reignite the Sun….. cause, well, he’s insane. The crazy man proceeds to shut off the power to the ship (turning off all the lights in the process, surprise, surprise) and go off hunting the remaining 4 members of the crew. (Can anyone say “Alien”?)

One crew member dies trying to get the power back on, by falling in the ship’s coolant and freezing. Another dies by the hand of the crazy man. By this time it is rather obvious that none of them are going to come out of this ordeal alive. But will the payload be delivered, will Earth survive? Capa, our hero manages to do just that, by detaching the bomb and flying it straight into the sun. (The bomb, oddly enough looks exactly like the cube from the Transformers movie. I’m still trying to figure out who had it first, but I’m rather sure that Spielberg stole it from Boyle.)

Back on Earth, Capa’s sister suddenly sees the sky grow brighter and then the snow filled landscape bursts into light. I always like happy endings.

Upon reviewing what I just wrote, I realize that this plot seems a little far fetched…… OK a LOT far fetched. So I will admit that it isn’t for everyone. Espeacially the parts at the end with the crazy captain of the Icarus I. But the beautiful sweeping scenes of the Sun and of the Icarus, are some of the best film making I have seen since M. Night’s “The Village.”

Also, this movie is tremendously scary. I actually found the scenes where the crew where in danger from natural causes scarier than when they are in danger from “Crazy.” Overall, very scary, very beautiful, very well done. But by the end of the film, you won’t really be thinking about underlying themes in the movie of self sacrifice and God’s judgment of mankind. Oh, well, I enjoyed it. Personally, I firmly believe that Boyle has again created something much greater than the sum of its parts.

Scariness rating: 4 ½ out of 5 shivers

Moral rating: 2 out of 5 Bibles

Film Making Quality rating: 5 out of 5 film reels

Plot rating: 3 ½ out of 5 stars

Overall rating: 4 out of 5 smiles

Movie rating: R 14A 13+

How I Rate Movies

Just so you all know. I first give my overall impression of the film for those who have not seen it, and tell you if it is worth seeing or not. Then I will give you the warning that there will be spoilers ahead and proceed to give you an overview of the films plot. Then I will give some summing up thoughts, followed by my rating on the film, based on scariness, moral quality, film quality, plot quality and then overall rating. Finally, I will give you the parental warning ratings for the film in this order when they are all available: the US MPAA rating, the Canadian rating and then the Spanish film rating.

Scott

The 20 Dos and Don'ts of Success

1. DON’T commit suicide! This is an awful way to go, and always causes more damage than good.

2. DON’T listen to depressing music. It really is amazing how this can have an impact on your life, but with how much teenagers listen to music now-a-days, it shouldn’t come as a big surprise.

3. DON’T just follow. There are enough wimpy, whiny people in the world; be someone that others will look up to.

4. DON’T watch the news. You have no reason to listen to the garbage that they preach on the news channels. There is nothing you can do about what they tell you, all it is good for is to cause you to worry. Worry is a BAD thing!

5. DON’T give in! Churchill said that. And it is extremely good advice. No one will respect you if you give in and let go of your convictions.

6. DON’T borrow money. This is just stupid. So don’t do it!

7. DON’T join cliques. Segregating people based on petty differences makes no sense. It is your job to refuse to be “cool.”

8. DON’T settle for acceptable. No one was every considered great because they did the bare minimum.

9. DON’T stay up late. You need your sleep! Getting less than 7 or 8 hours of sleep a night can actually destroy your health.

10. DON’T say you can’t or never! Chances are that if you say it often enough, you will start to believe it. And if you start to believe it, you are well on your way to failure.

11. DO obey your parents. This one is super important! Even though they may seem dull and idiotic, they love you. If you feel like they don’t understand how to love you, this is usually YOUR fault for not letting them.

12. DO go to church. This should be an obvious one; if it isn’t…well, you need to reevaluate you life.

13. DO create stuff often. Whether it is building a LEGO set or writing the next great American novel; make stuff! Surprising things happen when you are creating. And remember, you don’t have to make something huge and amazing, start small.

14. DO read your Bible everyday. Another very important one. I often find myself becoming angry and irritable when I haven’t read my Bible in the morning.

15. DO listen carefully. Those that talk more than they listen are never well off. The more you listen to other arguments, the more easily you will be able to refute them.*

16. DO be flexible. We all work in a constrained environment. If you refuse to work within the constraints, you will fail.

17. DO laugh often. This is another one of those things that seems so silly, but is vitally important.*

18. DO ask stupid questions. No one grows without asking questions and then questioning the answers.*

19. DO study history. It is important to know what mistakes we have made in the past so you don’t repeat them.

20. DO stand on someone’s shoulders. You can travel farther carried on the accomplishments of those who came before you. And the view is so much better.*







*Taken from The Incomplete Manifesto for Growth by Bruce Mau.

Hello, my friends and relations

Good afternoon, people of earth! This is a test. 1--2--3...... and a 1 and 2 and 3. There is no need to fear; they will not be here for sometime.

There will, however, be real posts here soon. I hate persons who procrastinate. So I will do my best not to.

Goodbye.