Sunshine Review

Prepare for a journey into the unknown as director Danny Boyle sets us on a course for the sun in this ambitious epic. The movie has an alarming simple concept - we travel aboard the Icarus 2 with a group of astronauts on a mission to try and breathe new life into our dying sun courtesy of bomb the size of Manhattan. All is going to plan until they receive a distress cal from the other Icarus, the ship originally tasked with the mission and which, it had been assumed, had been destroyed some years earlier. Now the crew face a dilemma - do they ignore the message and focus on their mission or do they follow their instincts and try and find their missing comrades?

There's no doubt that Boyle has aimed high here and in many respects "Sunshine" works well as a good, solid sci-fi. The production values are first rate as superb effects and claustrophobic sets catch the eye while Boyle's eight-man crew (which includes Cillian Murphy, Chris Evans, Rosie Byrne and Michelle Yeoh) interact convincingly. In fact the first hour and a quarter is pure, compelling science fiction.

However things start to fall apart slightly as the films reaches its conclusion. You get the feeling that screenwriter Alex Garland didn't quite know how to wrap things up as the movie slides into a rather by-the numbers thriller complete with threatening bogeyman. And that's a shame because for 75 minutes "Sunshine" is a sci-fi purists dream.

However don't let that flaw turn you off "Sunshine" completely. It's still a great-looking and engaging movie with a strong environmental message.