Sunshine

I've been told to watch Sunshine by more than a handful of people, so I finally remembered while I was home and took the time to watch it. I should preface this review by stating that I enjoyed Event Horizon much more than the average critic or IMDber, and many comparisons can be drawn between the two so I might be slightly biased. Or just more right.

Sunshine is about a crew of eight astronauts tasked with reigniting our dying sun to save the planet. The story kicks off as they are getting relatively close to the sun and soon lose connection back to Earth due to solar winds.

Sunshine is very visually appealing, but it almost feels overdone. Everything looks so detailed it just doesn't look real anymore...it looks so much like a blockbuster film that it almost pulls you out of the experience a little bit. I'm not trying to say they're so incredible things look better in the movie than they do in reality...or maybe I am sort of...you can just see all of the computer-generated graphics so plainly that it's distracting, for me at least.

Some of the events that cause the central conflict points in the movie seem a little silly as well. With such an vastly advanced system on board you'd think there would be some sort of warning if what you're trying to do could kill you, but apparently not. There just seem to be a big lack of fail-safe systems on something that is humanity's last hope.  There are a few characters and events that should've been expanded upon to make the film easier to relate with as well. Also, the horror elements were so 21st century it was just annoying. Startling the viewer by making loud noises or flashing things that have no relevance on screen isn't what horror should be.

Despite this minor annoyances, Sunshine is still an enjoyable film. There is always something happening so you can keep even your most ADD-riddled movie friends entertained, but at the same time it's just not terribly deep either. The acting is...well it's average and the writing is...well...damn it's average too...I guess the only thing I really think this movie has going for it is how watchable it is despite all of this. It is very entertaining so if you're not being too critical you'll probably find it enjoyable.

To make the inevitable comparison, Sunshine is much easier to watch than Event Horizon and won't leave you curled up in a corner talking to yourself for a week, but as far as I'm concerned it's not as good either.

Grade: C+