the return of intelligent sci-fi

Sunshine is a welcome return from director Danny Boyle, he who made the great Shallow Grave and iconoclastic Trainspotting, but has otherwise dipped in form of late. this film, however, will drive a number of people up the wall in an equal measure to the amount of people it will entertain, like me.

if you didn't like Solaris or 2001, and if you didn't like the latter you should be banned from watching films, then do us all a favour and skip this review - you will find the film self-indulgent and preposterous. you don't like to think about movies so don't bother with this one!

the plot, at least the start of the plot, revolves around the need to "re-ignite" the sun with a massive nuclear blast. the sun is not dying, but it is weakening, leaving dear old earth in a slightly darkened state. we join Icarus 2 on their quest to deliver the massive nuclear blast, as the first Icarus presumably failed several years earlier.

and there i leave the premise. what comes along next is either an intelligent, thought-provoking journey, or it is post-modernist existential tripe, depending on how you look at this sort of thing. my money is on the first one.

there are some infuriating parts - the first 30 minutes treats you to several external shots of the spaceship thingie, presumably to remind the thick (presumably American) audience that this is a science fiction film set in space. it gets a bit like Casino Royale really, where 30 minutes or so were wasted explaining that this is the early, new James Bond. we get it already, move along please.

the dude who looks like Nicky Wire from the Manics that was in Batman Begins is in this film, and that makes it worthwhile viewing in itself. the cast is, at least to me, relatively unknown, which is a distinct advantage - you have no preconceived ideas about the type of character usually played by the actors, which adds to the suspense as the film goes along.

not light viewing, but by no means heavy either. lovers of "proper" science fiction need to seek out and watch this film as soon as possible.

be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!