Sunshine (2007): A team of astronauts are sent to re-ignite the dying sun 50 years into the future.

This was a very pleasant surprise. A great sci-fi space travel story that I haven’t seen since the Solaris remake. This is a very specific subgenre, lead by the original Russian Solaris and 2001. These are all very philosofical works, and though Sunshine has more action in it, it does contain a lot of interesting moral questions.

This story starts slowly, but the tension is high as soon as the problems start. From then each problem brings to a new one, like a domino. The characters react to these problems in their own way, making characterization an important part of my enjoyment.

Then all of a sudden the movie takes a 180 degree turn. It now becomes a race against time, very chaotic and fast paced. However there is line in the first half that kind of explains why this happens, so I think I am ok with it.

The performances are very good, in particular I was totally suprised by Chris Evans, who is only known as the Human Torch on F4. Here he gives a totally serious performance. Cylian Murphy again gives a very good performance, after proving himself in other roles. I didn’t know Michelle Yeoh was in this movie, but she was also a good surprise.

This is one of my favorite movies of the year, I enjoyed both the moral questions raised and the action at the end.

Rating: 4 Stars