Sunshine

In order to get away from everthing, I will often times go see a movie late at night and that's exactly what I did yesterday. I was struggling to find something until I saw that the new Danny Boyle picture had finally gotten here. With the exception of the god-awful adaptation of The Beach, I've really enjoyed Boyle's films: Millions, Shallow Grave, Trainspotting, and my personal favorite, 28 Days Later. (Hey, it's got zombies in it. What else do you expect me to say?) He has also exposed me to a couple of my favorite actors in Ewan McGregor and Cillian Murphy.

I was beginning to get excited, but also a little anxious, too. I knew that it was science fiction, and so often that can go terribly wrong. I was really hoping not to be disappointed. As it turned out, I had nothing to worry about.

The movie focuses on a group of astronauts who are trying to re-ignite the sun after some sort of scientific anomaly has caused it to lose energy. It has spectacular special effects, with Boyle affectly using the contrast between light and darkness. But it also largely character driven as well, with a surprising acting turn by Chris Evans, who up to this point I thought was simply capable of making smart-ass comments.

Additionally, the movie has all the essential elements of good sci-fi: a villian, cool technology, and smart action. Boyle's directing gets you to feel the right emotions at the right time. So, it's not only pretty to look at but smart as well.

He's able to accomplish this with the smart writing of Alex Garland. What his writer does is well is examine the issue of Atheism versus God in the face of a crisis. It's subtle, but adds a nice layer to what otherwise would have been a pretty good popcorn flick.

3/4.