An American critic once remarked of David Lynch's Lost Highway: "for the first 15 minutes, it's the greatest film ever made. Why watch the rest?"
In a sense this could be applied to Sunshine – the new high-concept science fiction movie in which Cillian Murphy's team of intrepid astronauts set out on a mission to reignite the sun and save our 'dying planet'. Not that this ranks as one of the greatest cinematic achievements ever – hell, it's not even director Danny Boyle's best film – but Sunshine does suffer from one of the most disproportionately bad third acts in recent movie-memory. We're not going to dish out any spoilers here… but there's a definite Event Horizon feel to things by the time the credits roll.
Which is a shame, because there's certainly a lot to enjoy en route: the assembled cast do a good job of fleshing out their cabin-bound characters, and there's a genuine atmosphere of trepidation to keep things ticking along nicely. It's just that you may feel – much as hecklerspray did – that you could have scribbled out your own ending over breakfast and still come up with a more satisfying conclusion.
Griping aside, however, it's hard to deny – even if it does eventually turn into I Know What You Did Last Summer – that this is a somewhat more distinctive piece of work than similar save-the-world actioners The Core and the lamentable Armageddon.
For a start, Sunshine looks amazing. The production design is second to none, and the gritty Ridley Scott-like aesthetics provide us with a nice counterpoint to the more vapid fare to be found in the genre.
Most impressive of all, though, is the star of the show: the Sun itself. Almost a character in its own right, our nearest star dominates everything, a constant reminder to the crew members (and audience) of just how fragile and insignificant our species is in the wider scheme of things. When objects – and occasionally people – drift from behind the giant solar shield, they are evaporated in an instant. This is unforgiving territory, and Boyle does a sterling job of creating the impression that we are simply not supposed to be out there. For a while at least, every frame is scorched through with dread and awe; the notion that this is about as dangerous as heroic antics can get.
It all seems so promising, capturing the right balance between popcorn blockbuster and slightly more cerebral entertainment. The cast are used well – the luminous Rose Byrne in particular subject to a good number of doe-eyed close-ups – and set-pieces are well-structured and carefully thought-out. It all looks like it might be going somewhere special.
Then? It almost seems like they couldn't be bothered. God knows what writer Alex Garland's deadline was like, but the last 20 minutes of the script might as well have been the words 'Will This Do?' repeated over and over again. The odd thing is that the narrative hangs together just well enough to make it seem like the ending wasn't a disaster or a misfire… that this baffling decline in the film's quality pretty much worked out exactly as the makers intended. See also: previous Boyle collaboration 28 Days Later.
Still. Don't get us wrong – this is roughly a hundred times better than all the other nonsense polluting your screens at the multiplex, and it certainly demands to be seen, if only to switch your brain off and let the ambiance of the movie flow over you. Unlike extended video game cut-scene 300, this is a film that'll stay with you a good deal longer than four seconds after you've left the foyer. It just may be more out of frustration than admiration.
Sunshine opens in the UK on April 5th.
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Schmoo says
The trouble is, after Tarantino’s From Dusk till Dawn, everyone else feels immune from being accused of not bothering to finish a film properly. They’re probably right too.