Review: Sunshine - Directed by Danny Boyle
Rated R for some strong language and graphic images.

I'm not quite sure what Fox had in mind for Danny Boyle's Sunshine. As part of their 'Spotlight' wing of independent films, Sunshine has been getting a limited but expanding release for the past couple weeks. That said, I had to seek out other theaters near me playing it and ditch my usual place.

Thankfully, It was worth the extra effort.

In Sunshine, a team of 8 astronauts are on a last ditch effort to deliver a massive bomb to the sun, thus saving the Earth from a solar winter. However, as is usually the case when you cram people in a small space, tempers begin to flare up and disagreements arise.

The best way to describe Sunshine would be that it has the look of Alien with the feel of 28 Days Later (also a Boyle film). It has that sort of old-school sci-fi atmosphere to it, but with a modern--and at times horrific--flare.

The more I think of it, the more I can draw parallels between Sunshine and 28 Days Later. In both cases, they start out as tight, riveting character dramas. However, they also seem to fall apart at the end. With 28 Days Later, the problem was with the final conclusion--which Boyle has voiced was a difficult task. In Sunshine's case, it's as if he needed to add a few more minutes and another conflict to the plot so Boyle figured he'd turn it into a Friday the 13th-esque slasher.

Nevertheless, Sunshine is still one of the better sci-fi films of the last 7 years. If you can find it playing near you, I recommend checking it out. If nothing else, it'll make you appreciate the sun a heck of a lot more.

Rating: 4/5