The film Sunshine written by Alex Garland was a surprise joy to watch, I didn’t have high hopes for the film based on the description but by the time I was half way through the film I was glued to the screen.  The film takes place in 2057, the sun is slowly dying causing a solar winter on earth, a team of astronauts are sent to the sun with a nuclear bomb the size of Manhattan to restart the sun and bring it back to life.  Things start to go wrong and what follows is a tense, edge of your seat thriller right to the end.

I’m not going to lie, the story it’s self sounds terrible, but once you see the film you’ll understand that the basic story has little to do with the actual film.  The film is about the drama and suspense built up around the events going on during the mission to the sun.  While the idea is ridiculous, the story is well written and will entertain you to the very last minute.

There really wasn’t much music to speak of here, mostly you got little bits of orchestra music to help set the tone of the scene.  I think this was a good choice, the film takes place in the vacuum of space, and the lack of music really helped give that dead space feeling to the film.

Cillian Murphy once again delivers an outstanding performance, ever since I saw him in Batman Begins I’ve been amazed at his acting abilities.  He plays the weak nerdy man who of course in the end has to overcome impossible odds, and the whole time he is on screen you believe in his character.  Chris Evens is the jock type, but still has the brain to make it believable that he would be on a highly technical space mission.  Mark Strong was perfect, the way he was shot in this film gave you just enough to feel the fear the other characters were feeling while not going over the top and drawing you out of the film, even in well lit scenes you don’t get a clear look at him only the fear on the other charterers.  Rose Byrne, Michelle Yeoh, Cliff Curtis, Troy Garity, Hiroyuki Sanada, and Benedict Wong all play their parts perfectly, helping to build suspense while keeping the story flowing.

Sunshine is a must see thriller film, don’t let the description fool you it’s a great film that has been overlooked.  The story is great, the acting is wonderful, and in the end you will be happy you’ve seen it.  Just to prove to you how much I enjoyed this film, as soon as it was over I bought the film and added it to my collection, I have a feeling this will be one of those films that I go back and watch again and again picking up little things I missed before.