You don't have to be a rocket scientist to know that "Sunshine," Danny Boyle's sci-fi drive-by, doesn't quite add up.

First, there's the name of the spacecraft sent to the dying sun. It's Icarus II. (The first Icarus got lost on the way seven years earlier.) Icarus, from Greek mythology, flew too close to the sun, which melted the wax holding his wings together and sent him plunging to death. Not a good name for a manned spaceflight.

The mission is to launch a bomb strong enough to ignite another star within the dying star, kind of like nuking high-voiced Wayne Newton into deep-voiced, deep leather-fringed Wayne Newton.
Come to think of it: Newton is a much better name for the spaceship. Leave it to the imagination whether it means Wayne or Isaac.

More disbelief: Not a drunk among the the crew. Not a Depends in the cupboard.

And more: Our sun has 4 billion years and change before it dies. As we all know, thanks to Al Gore, Earth has about 50 years to go. Even if we get our act together, we'll be long gone by a billion years, our survivors stopping for breakfast on Pluto before landing somewhere else in the galaxy, one hopes the Land That Forgot the SUV.

Final disbelief: the ending. Don't worry: I'm not going to give it away. Because I have no idea what really was going on. (OK, I have an idea, but I thought the film ended 10 minutes before it did.)

That said, "Sunshine" is eye-smashing. Not just the flaring sun (dying never looked so good) but also the lush, wet onboard garden, William Carlos Williams green. And when Mercury crosses the sun, a punctuation dot gliding over the page of creation, it's a reminder of both our insignificance and life's glory.
Whatever the flaws, that's worth a ticket, a box of popcorn and a seat in the dark.

Posted by Barbara Page at 11:43 AM | Permalink