"Sunshine"

Today I went to see a new Scifi movie titled "Sunshine", that I would not have known about if I did not see a short review on it in the entertainment section of the paper. It looked interesting and I ran out to see it right away, before they could rip it off the marquee as fast as any other good artsy and cerebral Scifi movies that disappear before I get a chance to view them. I thought that it was good Scifi movie art, and I'm glad that I hadn't seen the previews for it at any of the other films that I've seen this month. To describe it would be to say that it's got the sweeping sensations of 2001, some of the ship claustrophobia of Aliens, the art-house feel of Solaris, and the fantastic colorings of The Fountain. And some of the action in the modular corridors are reminiscent of "Saturn 3". You don't remember that movie? Not surprising. It was a quirky movie about an off-planet outpost manned by Kirk Doulgas and Farrah Fawcett, that is intruded upon by psycho Harvey Keitel and his equally psycho Decepticon. I liked that movie also for the fun of it, but it has pretty much been forgotten by most people and all TV movie channels. But, I digress as usual.

"Sunshine" places you on a trip to the sun to save the world, of course. But the movie really is a voyage. The visuals allow the you the sensation of knowing what it would be like to fly straight into the sun, with or without being inside a spacecraft. Obviously the science in the movie could be picked apart to pieces if you wanted to do that, but it sure looks good. Most of the acting is well done, and only a bit boilerplate Scifi. Michelle Yeoh is in it, which was a nice surprise, as well as Chris Evans from "Fantastic Four". I just went for the ride, to let my imagination go with the story without pressing my brain to nitpick the details. I had a feeling before I went in that this was the kind of film that it would be, and I was right. Although it is an intense story (I realized that I had been clenching my teeth through most of it), it's not really a brain-buster. Overall I enjoyed it and was glad that I didn't wait until it got to the $2.00 theater to see it, because I know it won't make it there, since very few commercial theaters appreciate high-brow, non-blockbuster Science Fiction movies. So if it's playing at a theater near you and you enjoy this sort of film, go out and see it quickly. Enjoy!