Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that this film isn't for kids; in addition to some brief, very violent scenes, it features extended discussions of intellectual and philosophical issues. Violence includes shots showing the effects of intense sunlight on human flesh (burned, bubbly, and scarred), a couple of vigorous fistfights between crewmembers, the very affecting death of a crewmember who is accidentally loosed in space (he freezes, face in close-up, and his face and then his shatter); a suicide victim appears so his slashed wrists are visible and blood is everywhere (crewmembers display upset); bodies in previous ship appear huddled together and burned to ash; final chase/fight is extended and violent; final explosions are fiery, loud, and devastating (also rather poetic). There are repeated uses of "f--k," with some other profanity.
Families can discuss the difficulties of traveling in space for long periods: How do these astronauts contend with their loneliness, competition, rising tensions, and difficult decisions? How does the film show the structure among the crewmembers, across race, age, and gender differences? What do you think about the possibility of the mission succeeding? They can also talk about science fiction in general and what makes a good sci-fi flick.
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Cynthia Fuchs
It's 2057, and, as narrator Capa (Cillian Murphy) puts it, "Our sun is dying." In order to restart the burning brightness and so, save the swiftly cooling earth, Capa, a physicist, has designed a stellar bomb, which he and seven other astronauts are delivering, aboard a ship called Icarus II.
This premise might make Danny Boyle's SUNSHINE sound like another coming of Armageddon. It is in fact not an action flick at all, but a study of personalities, philosophies, and ethics, with a bit of Alien-like horror in the mix as well. The utter vastness of the space around them is contrasted repeatedly with shots of their narrow interiors -- long, white-walled walkways; close, dark sleeping quarters; the observation deck, where the sun, viewed even at only 1 percent strength, is overwhelmingly bright. When the ship's psychiatrist Searle (Cliff Curtis) asks to see the sun at 3.1% for a mere 30 seconds, his face is burned red, and proceeds to peel throughout the rest of the film. "It's invigorating," he tells his astonished crewmates, "like taking a shower in light. You lose yourself a little."
The astronauts face loss every minute of their journey, whether worrying about not returning home or looking back on receding pasts (Capa sends a sad message to his parents, assuming he won't hear back from them). They've been journeying for 16 months and enter the "dead zone" (no more communication with earth) as the film begins. This means they're on their own when they discover the first Icarus, lost seven years earlier: Should they check it out, recover the bomb it carries (and so increase the likely effectiveness of their own mission), or just pass it by? The decisions they make are shaped by errors in calculations and guesses at their own futures.
As their options dwindle, the astronauts argue amongst themselves: The engineer Mace (Chris Evans) is prone to psychical altercations with Capa; biologist Corazon (Michelle Yeoh) is fiercely protective of her oxygen-producing, onboard greenhouse, and comm officer Harvey (Troy Garity) is quick to blame others for what goes wrong. As Captain Kaneda (Hiroyuki Sanada) tries to keep the crew on track, the pilot Cassie (Rose Byrne) complains of the occasional "excess of manliness."
All of the team members need each other, however, as they head toward a frightening fate. Knowing they are "expendable" in pursuit of saving the world, they come to see each other differently. And this is the beauty of the film, its mediation on seeing and visual poetry. Though the plot turns a little silly by the end, the imagery remains magnificent.
Fans may want to see thematic precursors, including 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Abyss, Solaris (2002, or the Russian original, 1972's Soyaris), or Event Horizon. Or you might want to see Boyle and writer Alex Garland's previous collaborations, including 28 Days Later and The Beach.
Rate It!
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ViolenceSeveral startlingly bloody and harsh images. Two male astronauts fight with each other a couple of times (hard-hitting fists and grunts); discovery of dead bodies in another ship (they're mostly shadowy, and have burned to death); an astronaut floats loose in space, his death by freezing shown graphically and briefly (face shatters, then blood shatters); a crewmember has nightmares of falling into the sun; a crewmember slashes his wrists off-screen, with his bloody remains explicitly displayed; extended killing sequence by the figure the crew meets at the end includes bloody stabbing (bloody handprints and splashes all over walls and windows), freezing in liquid, fighting and running, falling; eventual bomb explosion into the sun comprises a lengthy scene, very bright light, lots of flames. |
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LanguageLanguage indicating anger and fear: mostly "f--k" (at least 15 instances), plus fewer uses of "bitch," "s--t," and "hell." |
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Social BehaviorCrewmembers argue with each other and show selfishness, then support each other absolutely when faced with a larger threat. |
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