So, I netflix’d this movie because it had a relatively high rating on Rotten Tomatoes.  I really knew nothing about it, apart from the fact that Danny “Trainspotting 28 Days Later” Boyle directed it and Cillian Murphy had a leading role.  So I thought, what the heck. 

Hm. 

So, the plot is that the sun is dying and these scientists have been sent into space in an attempt to re-ignite it.  They are the second mission to be sent into space – the first disappeared 7 years ago. 

I thought visually the movie was really interesting.  It reminded me of ‘2001’ and ‘Alien’ with the way the way it was filmed.  Lots of random shots of empty corridors and weird noises.  Very dark, lots of whites and blues.  Lots of atmosphere.

Unfortunately, the story doesn’t keep up with the imagery.  We never really get to know the characters so we’re not really upset when bad things begin to happen.  I didn’t want their entire life stories, but these guys had less character development than a Michael Crichton novel (Crichton, though I love him, considers “He was 45 and a scientist” to be as much description as you could ever need).  Which is too bad, because I was ready for so much more.  I was ready to really like this movie.  But they never really meant anything to me.

I spent the last half of the movie wondering if I had accidentally sat on the DVD remote and skipped a chapter because it felt as though a scene or two was missing.  I still understood what was going on on the screen but it seemed like there should have been a bit more…something…to it.

Still, if you’re struggling to find something to watch and you’re in the mood for a sci-fi thriller, you could do worse than ‘Sunshine’.