Sunshine (2007) - dir. Danny Boyle - 1.5 starsAfter creating such sensations as Trainspotting and 28 Days Later, Boyle now joins the crowd of directors who should be ashamed of themselves.
Sunshine has some moments that give hope to the viewer that something clever and unique is about to happen for the sci-fi genre. The relation of God, space and madness pave the way for very interesting ideas for the film, but Boyle doesn't explore any of them. Only hinting at this potential brilliance hurts the film even more, agitating the viewer. The seeds of these moments are quickly crushed under unimaginative writing, a huge anti-climax and the appearance of one of film history's least explored villains. The sad thing is that this villain could have profited the film exponentially if explored in depth and not only used as an excuse for violence to accelerate the plot.
It is very obvious that Alex Garland, also writer of 28 Days Later, got trapped within the Hollywood confines of the sci-fi genre, where the characters die in order of importance and don't develop at all, where one of the characters is weak and another a complete tough soldier, where the plot twist is completely predictable, and where the story is oriented towards the action and occasional suspense. As a typical Hollywood sci-fi, special effects take precedence over everything else in the film and do not add any additional meaning. Special effects do help the viewers visualize things better, but when overused, they take over the film and suffocate it.
Sounds familiar, doesn't it? Trust me, you have seen this all before. Boyle offers nothing new to the table, which is unfortunate given his previous success that charted him as a promising director. I am prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt just because I believe the mishap is completely script-driven. What I can't forgive Boyle for is how he accepted to shoot this film, given the horrible script.
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